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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Earth Atmosphere "Breathes," Thanks to Solar Winds


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A wide coronal hole appears as a large dark area in this extreme ultraviolet light image of the sun taken by NASA's SOHO spacecraft.

A study presented in December 2008 says such holes help send high-pressure solar winds toward Earth, where they may cause a newly observed "breathing" effect in our upper atmosphere.

Image courtesy NASA