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Credit & Copyright: Alan Friedman
(Averted Imagination)
Explanation:
Our Sun has become quite a busy place.
Taken only two weeks ago, the
Sun was captured sporting numerous tumultuous regions including active sunspot
regions AR 2036 near the image top and
AR 2036 near the center.
Only four years ago the Sun was emerging from an
unusually quiet
Solar Minimum that had lasted
for years.
The above image
was recorded in a
single color of light called
Hydrogen Alpha, inverted, and false colored.
Spicules cover much of the Sun's face like a carpet.
The gradual brightening towards the Sun's edges is caused by
increased absorption of relatively cool solar gas and called
limb darkening.
Just over the Sun's edges, several filamentary prominences
protrude,
while prominences on the Sun's face are seen as light streaks.
Possibly the most visually interesting of all are the magnetically tangled active
regions containing relatively cool sunspots, seen as white dots.
Currently at Solar Maximum
-- the most active phase in its 11-year magnetic cycle, the Sun's twisted magnetic
field is creating numerous solar
"sparks" which include eruptive solar prominences,
coronal mass ejections,
and flares which emit clouds of particles
that may impact the Earth and cause auroras.
One flare two years ago
released such a torrent of charged particles
into the Solar System that
it might have disrupted satellites and compromised power grids had it
struck planet Earth.
News:
Free APOD Lecture in Paris on June 17
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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: Sun - solar activity
Publications with words: Sun - solar activity
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