The following images are mosaics obtained on 03 August 2010 at the National Solar Observatory/Dunn Solar Telescope with the Interferometric Bidimensional Spectrometer (IBIS). Each of the nine subfields was individually speckle reconstructed using KISIP v6 and assemble into the mosaic. The final images are approximately 238 x 242 arcseconds, or 4 x 4 arcminutes, with a pixel scale of 0.0976 arcseconds per pixel. This is about 175,000 km on a side, and the Earth would only be as big as the sunspot in the lower right. However, this image covers only 2 percent of the visible solar disk.

The images show a broad range of typical chromospheric structures, including sunspots, superpenumbra, plage, filaments, and quiet internetwork. A small flare is also visible to the right of the sunspot. Both Calcium and Hydrogen lines show the same structures, but with different sensitivies to temperature, density, and dynamics.

Photo credit (IBIS images) and further information:

Kevin Reardon (kreardon@arcetri.astro.it)

To get a full resolution version of any of these images, click on the image, and then on the link above the image on the right.