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Credit & Copyright: Alan Friedman
(Averted Imagination)
Explanation:
Earlier this month, the Sun exhibited one of the longer filaments on record.
Visible as the bright curving streak around the image center,
the snaking filament's full extent was estimated to be over
half of the
Sun's radius -- more than 350,000 kilometers long.
A filament is composed of
hot gas held aloft
by the Sun's magnetic field, so that viewed from the side it would appear as a
raised prominence.
A different, smaller prominence is simultaneously visible at the Sun's edge.
The featured image is in false-color and
color-inverted to highlight not only the
filament but the Sun's
carpet
chromosphere.
The bright dot on the upper right is actually a
dark sunspot about the
size of the Earth.
Solar
filaments
typically last from hours to days, eventually collapsing to return hot
plasma back to the Sun.
Sometimes, though, they
explode and
expel particles into the
Solar System, some of which trigger
auroras on Earth.
The pictured filament appeared in early September and continued to
hold
steady for about a week.
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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
Publications with words: Sun - filament
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