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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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