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Credit & Copyright: TRACE Project,
NASA
Explanation:
Why does the Sun flare?
Unpredictably, our
Sun unleashes tremendous
flares
expelling hot gas into the
Solar
System
that can affect satellites, astronauts, and power grids on Earth.
This close up of an active region on the Sun that produced a powerful
X-class flare
was captured by the orbiting
TRACE satellite.
Clicking on the image should bring up a movie that shows the evolution of
Active Region 9906 over about four hours.
The glowing gas flowing around the relatively stable
magnetic
field loops above the
Sun's photosphere
has a temperature of over ten million degrees
Celsius.
These flows occurred after violently unstable
magnetic
reconnection events above the Sun produced the flare.
Many things about
solar active regions are not well
understood including the presence of
dark regions that appear to move inward during the movie.
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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 February 19 Á Looking Sideways from the Parker Solar Probe
- Circling the Sun
- APOD: 2023 December 11 Á Solar Minimum versus Solar Maximum
- APOD: 2023 November 19 Á Space Station, Solar Prominences, Sun
- APOD: 2023 October 25 Á Gone in 60 Seconds: A Green Flash Sunset
- Circular Sun Halo
- APOD: 2023 August 1 Á Monster Solar Prominence