On 21 Nov 2005 a coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the Sun, a fairly common event. Scientists reviewed the images and data and concluded this particular CME had its source on the far side of the Sun, so it is safe to say that there will not be effects felt here at Earth from this event.
However, just as the edge of the CME cloud was reaching the left side of the coronagraph imager’s field of view, little Mercury put in an appearance. In its regular orbit around the Sun, Mercury appears every two months or so in our coronagraph images.
It is noticeable in the video because it movement from left to right is faster than the field of stars beyond the Sun. It will move out of our field of view in a few days. Of course, it is SOHO’s orbit around the Sun that makes the star field appear to move.
