If you live in the upper latitudes and noticed an awesome aurora last week, behold the cause. Just a few days before the aurora, on August 31st, the sun threw a major tantrum and ejected a large amount of matter into space (sun places thumb to nose and wiggles fingers delivering an emphatic "thbtbtbtbtthtbtbtbtht! So there!") This photograph of the coronal mass ejection (CME) is spectacular, but even more so when compared to Earth. Kind of makes you feel small, no!?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Kalliopi Monoyios is an independent science illustrator. She has illustrated several popular science books including Neil Shubin's Your Inner Fish and The Universe Within, and Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution is True. Find her at www.kalliopimonoyios.com. Follow Kalliopi Monoyios on Twitter
