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the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
This video-based tutorial from the Goddard Space Flight Center provides lay explanations of the differences between solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The strongest solar flares are almost always correlated with CME's. Both involve gigantic explosions of energy, but they emit different things, they travel differently, and have different effects on planets in our solar system. Solar flares look like sudden bursts of light, they contain tremendous energy, and travel at the speed of light. CMEs are plasma clouds containing enormous amounts of magnetized particles. CMEs travel over a million miles an hour, but well below the speed of light. Large CMEs can interrupt or overload electrical grids, create auroras, and degrade radio transmission. Both are widely studied by NASA missions such as Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMR) the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).
Next Generation Science StandardsDisciplinary Core Ideas (K-12)
Types of Interactions (PS2.B)
Definitions of Energy (PS3.A)
Crosscutting Concepts (K-12)
Energy and Matter (2-12)
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Record Link
<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=16026">NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA: The Difference Between Flares and CMEs. Greenbelt: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, August 7, 2017.</a>
AIP Format
(NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, 2017), WWW Document, (https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/the-difference-between-flares-and-cmes).
AJP/PRST-PER
NASA: The Difference Between Flares and CMEs (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, 2017), <https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/the-difference-between-flares-and-cmes>.
APA Format
NASA: The Difference Between Flares and CMEs. (2017, August 7). Retrieved May 1, 2025, from NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center: https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/the-difference-between-flares-and-cmes
Chicago Format
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA: The Difference Between Flares and CMEs. Greenbelt: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, August 7, 2017. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/the-difference-between-flares-and-cmes (accessed 1 May 2025).
MLA Format
NASA: The Difference Between Flares and CMEs. Greenbelt: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, 2017. 7 Aug. 2017. 1 May 2025 <https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/the-difference-between-flares-and-cmes>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{
Title = {NASA: The Difference Between Flares and CMEs},
Publisher = {NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center},
Volume = {2025},
Number = {1 May 2025},
Month = {August 7, 2017},
Year = {2017}
}
Refer Export Format
%T NASA: The Difference Between Flares and CMEs %D August 7, 2017 %I NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center %C Greenbelt %U https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/the-difference-between-flares-and-cmes %O text/html
EndNote Export Format
%0 Electronic Source %D August 7, 2017 %T NASA: The Difference Between Flares and CMEs %I NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center %V 2025 %N 1 May 2025 %8 August 7, 2017 %9 text/html %U https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/the-difference-between-flares-and-cmes Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.
Citation Source Information
The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual. The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References. The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation. The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ. |
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