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Credit & Copyright: Alan Friedman
(Averted Imagination)
Explanation:
Our Sun is becoming a busy place.
Taken just last week, the Sun was captured sporting numerous interesting features
including one of the larger sunspot groups yet recorded: AR 1339 visible on the image
right.
Only last year, the Sun was emerging from an
unusually quiet
Solar Minimum that 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.
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 scintillating 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 cool sunspots.
As our Sun's magnetic field winds toward
Solar Maximum over the next few years,
increased
activity will likely create times when the Sun's face is even more complex.
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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 - sunspot - solar activity - H-alpha
Publications with words: Sun - sunspot - solar activity - H-alpha
See also:
- APOD: 2024 May 28 Á Solar X Flare as Famous Active Region Returns
- APOD: 2024 May 26 Á A Solar Filament Erupts
- APOD: 2024 May 13 Á AR 3664 on a Setting Sun
- APOD: 2024 May 11 Á AR 3664: Giant Sunspot Group
- APOD: 2024 February 19 Á Looking Sideways from the Parker Solar Probe
- Circling the Sun
- APOD: 2023 December 11 Á Solar Minimum versus Solar Maximum