Space Weather
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Solar flares are intense, short-lived releases of energy. (Photo: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)
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In a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) solar material streaks out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. They are sometimes associated with flares, but usually occur independently. (Photo: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)
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The sun from maximum to minimum. (Photo: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)
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A coronal hole on the sun, seen here in dark blue, is an area of the sun's atmosphere, the corona, where the magnetic field opens up and the material flows quickly out. (Photo: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)