A massive burst of solar plasma and magnetic field released from the Sun's corona into space. These events can disrupt satellite communications, power grids, and create intense auroras when they reach Earth.
The term combines 'coronal' from Latin 'corona' (crown, referring to the Sun's outer atmosphere), 'mass' from Latin 'massa' (lump or bulk), and 'ejection' from Latin 'ejicere' (to throw out). The phenomenon was first observed during solar eclipse studies and became well-understood with space-based solar observations in the 1970s.
A single coronal mass ejection can hurl billions of tons of plasma into space at speeds up to 3,000 kilometers per second - that's enough material to fill Lake Superior traveling at 1% the speed of light! The most powerful CME on record, the 1859 Carrington Event, was so intense that telegraph wires sparked and auroras were visible as far south as the Caribbean.
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