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Credit & Copyright: SST,
Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences
Explanation:
This stunning image shows remarkable and mysterious details
near the dark central region of a planet-sized
sunspot
in one of
the sharpest views ever
of the surface
of
the Sun.
Just released,
the picture was made using the
Swedish Solar Telescope now in its
first year of operation
on the Canary Island of La Palma.
Along with features described as hairs and canals are dark cores
visible within the bright filaments that extend into the sunspot,
representing previously unknown and unexplored
solar phenomena.
The filaments' newly revealed dark cores are seen to be
thousands of kilometers long but only about 100 kilometers wide.
Resolving features 100 kilometers wide or less is a milestone
in solar astronomy and has been achieved here
using sophisticated adaptive optics, digital image stacking, and
processing techniques to counter the
blurring effect of Earth's
atmosphere.
At optical wavelengths,
these images are sharper than even
current space-based solar observatories
can produce.
Recorded on 15 July 2002, the sunspot shown is the largest of
the group of sunspots cataloged as solar active region
AR 10030.
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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
Publications with words: Sun - sunspot
See also:
- APOD: 2025 March 16 Á Venus and the Triply Ultraviolet Sun
- 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