© NASA, 2012, CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) Eruption on the Sun

“Never regret thy fall, o Icarus of the fearless flight. For the greatest tragedy of them all is never to feel the burning light.” (Oscar Wilde)

“On August 31, 2012 a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The CME traveled at over 900 miles per second. It didn’t travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth’s magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear on the night of Monday, September 3.” (NASA)

  © David E. Carter, Sep. 3, 2012, Aurora over Whitehorse, Yukon River / Canada

(thanks to / via: likeafieldmouse)

(Source: likeafieldmouse)