Hi Maddy,

We can see coronal mass ejections (CMEs) with a telescope that images the Sun in white-light. They look like large bursts of material shot from the solar corona (the corona is what we see during eclipses), but we can also see other dynamic phenomena related to CMEs, such as flares and waves, on the solar surface. When a CME is directed toward the Earth, it will look like a growing "halo", or a circle of material encompassing the solar surface because we are looking down the top of the "bubble" (kind of like looking at the top of a balloon as it expands). The surface phenomena (i.e., flares, waves) associated with CMEs also give us an indication as to where the CME is headed..... for instance, if a large flare occurs in the middle of the solar disk, it indicates the CME orininates very near there and thus will be traveling toward us.

Cheers,

Holly