A Solar Prominence from SOHO
Explanation:
How can gas float above the Sun?
Twisted
magnetic fields arching from
the solar surface can trap ionized gas, suspending it in huge looping structures.
These majestic plasma arches
are seen as prominences above the solar limb.
In 1999 September,
this dramatic and detailed image
was recorded by the EIT experiment on board
the space-based SOHO observatory
in the light emitted by
ionized Helium.
It shows
hot plasma escaping into space as a fiery prominence breaks
free from
magnetic confinement a hundred thousand kilometers above the Sun.
These awesome events
bear watching as they
can affect communications and power systems over
100 million kilometers away on
Planet Earth.
Recently, our
Sun has been
unusually quiet.
Free Lecture:
An APOD editor will review great space images this Friday in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
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.
