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Credit & Copyright: Dutch Open Telescope,
Sterrekundig Instituut Utrecht
Explanation:
Sunspots -- magnets the size of the Earth -- are
normally seen flat on the Sun.
The above digital metamorphosis, however, shows a
sunspot as it appears at increasing heights, effectively
in three dimensions.
The above false-colored image sequence
of solar active region AR 10675 was taken in three very specific colors that effectively
isolate
different layers
above the solar surface.
The first images show the Sun's photospheric
surface as it normally appears, covered with
granules.
The large dark sunspot sports a clear dark
umbra in the center surrounded by a lighter penumbra.
Images appearing toward the middle of the sequence show the
Sun
as in light predominantly emitted a few hundred kilometers above the
photosphere.
At this height, the continent sized
bubbling granules appear reversed,
and long lines of constant
magnetic force begin to appear.
The last images show the Sun at a few thousand kilometers into the
chromosphere.
Here magnetic field lines can be clearly followed outward from the
sunspot to distant regions.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: sunspot - Sun - magnetic field
Publications with words: sunspot - Sun - magnetic field
See also:
- APOD: 2024 September 2 Á A Triangular Prominence Hovers Over the Sun
- APOD: 2024 August 18 Á A Solar Prominence Eruption from SDO
- APOD: 2024 August 4 Á Gaia: Here Comes the Sun
- APOD: 2024 July 28 Á Sun Dance
- Prominences and Filaments on the Active Sun
- APOD: 2024 May 28 Á Solar X Flare as Famous Active Region Returns
- APOD: 2024 May 26 Á A Solar Filament Erupts