The Iron Sun
Explanation:
The ultraviolet light emitted by eleven times ionized iron at temperatures
over 2 million
degrees Farenheit was used to record the above picture of the
Sun on May 16. The image was made by
the EIT camera onboard
the SOHO spacecraft, a space observatory which can continuously
observe the Sun.
Eleven times ionized iron is atomic iron with eleven of its electrons stripped
away. Here the electrons are stripped by the
frantic collisions with other atoms and electrons
which occur at the extreme temperatures in
the Solar Corona.
Since electrons are negatively charged, the
resulting ionized iron atom is highly positively charged.
Astronomer's "shorthand" for eleven times ionized iron is written
"Fe XII", the
chemical symbol for iron followed by a Roman
numeral 12 (Fe I is neutral iron).
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
