Coronal mass ejection

A coronal mass ejection is a large eruption of magnetized plasma and embedded magnetic field from the Sun’s corona into interplanetary space.

Magnetic reconnection: A rearrangement of magnetic-field connections that converts magnetic energy into heat, particle energy, and motion. Reconnection can release stored coronal magnetic energy and help drive an eruption.
Solar dynamo: The process by which motions inside the Sun generate and sustain its magnetic field. The dynamo ultimately supplies the magnetic field that becomes stressed before eruptions.
Geomagnetic storm: A disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere caused by enhanced solar-wind energy and magnetic-field input. An Earth-directed ejection can trigger a storm when its magnetic field couples strongly to the magnetosphere.
Carrington Event: The intense geomagnetic storm of September 1859, associated with a major solar eruption. It is the best-known historical example of a powerful solar eruption affecting Earth.
Solar prominence: A dense, relatively cool structure of solar material suspended in the corona by magnetic fields. Prominence material is often embedded in, or lifted by, an erupting magnetic structure.
Solar cycle: The roughly 11-year variation in solar activity, marked by changing sunspot numbers and magnetic conditions. Ejection rates and source regions vary with the Sun’s activity cycle.
Aurora: Light emitted in a planet’s upper atmosphere when energetic particles excite atmospheric atoms and molecules. Particles energized during geomagnetic disturbances can produce auroras at unusually low latitudes.
March 1989 geomagnetic storm: A severe geomagnetic storm that caused a major power blackout in Quebec in March 1989. It shows how an eruption-driven storm can disrupt terrestrial infrastructure.
Flux rope: A bundle of magnetic field lines winding around a common axis. Many eruptions contain a twisted magnetic structure that expands outward as a flux rope.
Sunspot: A comparatively dark, magnetically concentrated region on the solar photosphere. Complex magnetic regions around sunspots can store energy that later powers eruptions.

Linked from 24 pages