Solar Storm 2012
This profile shows several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) during July 2012, where the last one was incredibly intense. Its strength was comparable to the most intense CME in recorded history, the Carrington Event of 1859, which caused damage to electric equipment worldwide. Luckily, this 2012 event missed Earth.
Tour
The event is visualized with outputs from the simulation model ENLIL, whose domain spans across the solar system, from the Sun to Earth. The magnetosphere of Earth in this profile is visualized using BATSRUS, which shows the interaction of the particle flow of the solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere. There is also one time step of the PFSS model showing the Sun’s local magnetic structure.
To best interact with these visualizations, it is recommended to use the keyboard shortcuts, especially the time loops.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Bastille Day 2000 Profile Keyboard Shortcuts
Shortcuts found in the Solar Storm 2012, found at data/profiles/spaceweather/solarstorm2012.profile
Shortcut |
Function |
|---|---|
d |
Toggles between darkening the Sun and showing the surface of the Sun |
e |
Starts a loop that best highlights the ENLIL model |
b |
Starts a loop that best highlights the BATSRUS model |
r |
Resets the loops, to make them stop looping |
Data Sets
A few simulation models have been used in this profile:
ENLIL, for solar winds. Visualized with magnetic field lines.
BATSRUS, for magnetosphere. Also visualized with magnetic field lines, as well as velocity field lines.
PFSS, just one time step to highlight with field lines the comlex magnetic field in the Suns corona.