Question

question 18
1 pts
what is a coronal mass ejection?
the distortion of an image formed by a telescope due to differing focal lengths of the optical system.
an event in which billions of tons of gas from the sun is suddenly blasted into space at high speeds.
light radiated by atoms and ions in the earths upper atmosphere, mostly in the polar regions.
a process in which a high - energy ultraviolet photons are absorbed and the absorbed energy is radiated as lower - energy photons of visible light.
flamelike protrusions seen near the limb of the sun and extending into the solar corona.

Explanation:

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are large - scale expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun's corona. They are massive events, with billions of tons of material being ejected at high speeds (ranging from hundreds to over a thousand kilometers per second).

• The first option describes an optical distortion (like chromatic aberration in telescopes), which has nothing to do with CMEs.
• The third option describes the aurora (light from the Earth's upper atmosphere, mainly in polar regions).
• The fourth option describes fluorescence (absorption of high - energy photons and re - emission as lower - energy photons).
• The fifth option describes solar prominences (flamelike structures on the Sun).

Answer:

an event in which billions of tons of gas from the Sun is suddenly blasted into space at high speeds.