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Credit & Copyright: Bret Dahl
Explanation:
Is that a cloud hovering over the Sun?
Yes, but it is quite different than a cloud hovering over the Earth.
The long light feature on the left of the
above color-inverted
image
is actually a solar filament and is composed of mostly charged
hydrogen gas held aloft by the Sun's
looping
magnetic field.
By contrast, clouds over the Earth are usually much
cooler,
composed mostly of tiny water droplets, and are
held
aloft
by upward air motions because they are weigh so little.
The above filament was captured on the Sun about two weeks ago near the
active solar region
AR 1535 visible on the
right with
dark sunspots.
Filaments typically last for a few days to a week, but
a long
filament
like this might hover over the Sun's surface for a month or more.
Some filaments trigger large
Hyder flares
if they suddenly collapse back
onto the Sun.
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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 - filament - active region
Publications with words: Sun - filament - active region
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