Explanation:
Sometimes, the surface of our Sun seems to dance.
In the middle of 2012, for example, NASA's Sun-orbiting
Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft imaged an
impressive prominence
that seemed to perform a
running dive roll like an acrobatic dancer.
The
dramatic explosion was
captured in
ultraviolet light in the
featured time-lapse video covering about three hours.
A looping magnetic field directed the flow of hot
plasma on the
Sun.
The scale of the
dancing prominence is huge -- the entire
Earth would easily fit under the flowing
arch of hot gas.
A quiescent
prominence typically lasts about a month, and may erupt in a
Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)
expelling hot gas into the
Solar System.
The energy mechanism that creates a
solar prominence is still a topic of
research.
Unlike 2012, this year the Sun's surface is significantly
more serene, featuring fewer spinning prominences,
as it is near the
minimum in its
11-year magnetic cycle.
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.
