The Big Corona
Explanation:
Most photographs don't adequately portray the magnificence of the
Sun's corona.
Seeing the
corona
first-hand during a total
solar eclipse is
unparalleled.
The
human eye
can adapt to see coronal
features and
extent that average cameras usually cannot.
Welcome, however, to the
digital age.
The
featured central image
digitally combined short and long exposures
that were processed to highlight faint and extended features in the corona of the
total solar eclipse that occurred in
August of 2017.
Clearly visible are
intricate layers and glowing caustics of an ever changing mixture of hot gas
and
magnetic fields in the Sun's corona.
Looping prominences appear bright pink just past the
Sun's
limb.
Faint details on the night side of the
New Moon can even be made out,
illuminated by sunlight reflected from the dayside of the
Full Earth.
Images taken seconds before and after the total
eclipse show glimpses of the background Sun known as
Baily's Beads and
Diamond Ring.
Tomorrow, a
new total solar eclipse will be visible from parts of
South America.
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.
