This collection of spectacular CME eruptions from the Sun, show magnetic activity in the Sun's corona. The images from 2000 & 2001 are in the period defined as Solar Maximum, when peak solar activity occurs as part of the 11 year cycle of low and high activity on the Sun. However, massive eruptions can occur anytime without warning. The huge ejections from the Sun are called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are explosions of charged particles in the plasma state that are flung millions of miles into space.

These images are generated by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, which sits at a position called L1 Lagranian, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth and provides an uninteruppted view of the Sun. The LASCO (Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph) instrument on SOHO makes images like this one by blocking the light coming directly from the Sun with an occulter disk, creating an artificial eclipse within the instrument itself. The red/blue disk blocks out the Sun's bright light and the white circle near the center shows the true size of the Sun.

The coronagraph dated 15th May 2000 is extraordinary and provides a view with four planets and the Pleiades. The "snow" effect on some of the images is the effect of energetic solar particles (protons) striking SOHO's digital camera. Particularly powerful solar flares from the sun's surface accelerate protons to nearly the speed of light thus generating proton storms. Solar flares also contain gamma rays, X-rays, and electrons, normally X-rays arrive on Earth first taking just over 8 minutes. The most extreme solar flare ever recorded erupted on Nov. 4, 2003, causing massive ozone loss in the statosphere. Click image to find more details.