coronal mass ejection
nounDefinition of coronal mass ejection
: a tremendous outburst of energy from the corona of the sun that can cause disruptions in the earth's geomagnetic field
As they had for the January eruption, the researchers relied on an armada of spacecraft to track the disturbance, known as a coronal mass ejection because it originates in the sun's outer atmosphere, or corona.— R. Cowen
—abbreviation CME
— compare solar flare
Examples of coronal mass ejection in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Other solar properties are measured during an eclipse as well, such as the sun’s magnetic field and conditions that lead to coronal mass ejections (great eruptions of plasma that periodically blast out from the sun). — Michael Waters, Smithsonian, "Photos Capture the Great South American Eclipse," 2 July 2019 The effort looks in part at the solar eruptions known as coronal mass ejections, which are increasingly considered a threat to satellites orbiting Earth. — Eric Adams, WIRED, "The Blazing Science of This Year's Total Solar Eclipse," 1 July 2019 More: Skywatch: Step outside and look for these constellations this spring The largest explosions on the sun are called coronal mass ejections or CMEs. — Dean Regas, Cincinnati.com, "Meet the storm in the sky that would engulf Earth if it weren’t 93 million miles away," 13 June 2019 Then, 18 hours to several days after the start of the event, a colossal plasma cloud known as a coronal mass ejection may crash into Earth’s magnetic bubble at 1,900 miles a second. — National Geographic, "Solar storms can be even worse if you live near certain rocks," 18 Mar. 2019 Scientists would also like to better predict coronal mass ejections and to understand what kinds of particles are feeding these ejections. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "After 20 years of planning, ambitious Solar mission about to launch," 10 Aug. 2018 But special circumstances — such as coronal holes and giant explosions of solar plasma called coronal mass ejections — can extend the intensity and the reach of these dazzling light displays. — Mike Wall, Space.com, "Hole in Sun's Atmosphere Amps Up Northern Lights," 11 Sep. 2018 Scientists are keen to better understand the solar wind (and larger bursts called coronal mass ejections) in part because of how this all affects space weather above the Earth, which can disrupt the function of satellites and other spacecraft. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "After 20 years of planning, ambitious Solar mission about to launch," 10 Aug. 2018 Another concern is that red dwarfs can be particularly active stars with stellar eruptions, flares, and coronal mass ejections bombarding the nearby planets with radiation. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "Seven Earth-Like Planets Orbit One Nearby Star," 22 Feb. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'coronal mass ejection.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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