NRL's SECCHI captures super-elastic collision of coronal mass ejections
(Phys.org)—Scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory and the University of Science and Technology in Hefei, China have captured the super-elastic collision of two coronal mass ejections in the heliosphere. They recorded the surprising event, which occurred in November 2008, using the Space Science Division (SSD)-led Sun-Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) suite onboard NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). NRL Space Science Division's Dr. Angelos Vourlidas, the SECCHI project scientist and co-author of this study, reported this research in the journal Nature Physics on October 7, 2012. The research contributes to improving scientists' ability to understand and forecast Sun-Earth System space weather that can affect military and civilian space and communication systems.