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Credit & Copyright: Solar Dynamics Observatory,
SVS,
GSFC,
NASA;
Music: Thunderbolt by
Lars Leonhard
Explanation:
Does it rain on the
Sun?
Yes, although what falls is not water but extremely hot
plasma.
An example occurred
in mid-July 2012 after an eruption on the Sun that produced both a
Coronal Mass Ejection
and a moderate solar flare.
What was more unusual, however, was what happened next.
Plasma in the nearby
solar corona
was imaged cooling and falling back, a phenomenon known as
coronal rain.
Because they are electrically charged,
electrons,
protons,
and
ions in the rain were
gracefully channeled along existing
magnetic loops near the Sun's surface,
making the scene appear as a surreal three-dimensional sourceless waterfall.
The resulting
surprisingly-serene spectacle is shown in
ultraviolet light
and highlights matter glowing at a temperature of about 50,000
Kelvin.
Each second in the
featured time lapse video
takes about 6 minutes in real time, so that the entire
coronal rain sequence lasted about 10 hours.
Recent
observations have confirmed that that coronal rain can also occur in smaller
loops for as long as 30 hours.
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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
Publications with words: Sun
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