Light Bridges on the Sun
Explanation:
Bridges the length of a planet can form on the
Sun in a matter of hours.
Known as
light bridges, these structures may form as large
sunspot groups decay.
Above,
one of the sharpest photographs of the
Sun ever taken shows two such
light bridges that appeared late last month.
The 5000-kilometer long bridges connect moderately dark
penumbral regions across the cool abyss of two dark sunspot
umbras.
A
movie shows that material tends more to rise
from below and fall rather than to cross the light bridges.
Bright bubbling
granules surround the
sunspot group.
The impressive details on
this recently released picture from the
Swedish Solar Vacuum Telescope were made possible by new
adaptive optics that
correct for the
blurring of the Earth's atmosphere.
What eventually became of the
light bridges?
As days progressed, the bridge region
expanded to fill the void as the
sunspots moved apart and decayed.
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.
