The Solar Month

at

Like the Earth, the sun rotates, as it does, it changes in both subtle and dramatic ways. To wit:

In the featured time-lapse sequences, our Sun — as imaged by NASA‘s Solar Dynamics Observatory — is shown rotating though an entire month in 2014. In the large image on the left, the solar chromosphere is depicted in ultraviolet light, while the smaller and lighter image to its upper right simultaneously shows the more familiar solar photosphere in visible light. The rest of the inset six Sun images highlight X-ray emission by relatively rare iron atoms located at different heights of the corona, all false-coloured to accentuate differences. The Sun takes just under a month to rotate completely — rotating fastest at the equator. A large and active sunspot region rotates into view soon after the video starts. Subtle effects include changes in surface texture and the shapes of active regions. Dramatic effects include numerous flashes in active regions, and fluttering and erupting prominences visible all around the Sun’s edge. Presently, our Sun is passing an unusually low Solar minimum in activity of its 11-year magnetic cycle. As the video ends, the same large and active sunspot region previously Video Credit: SDO, NASA; Digital Composition: Kevin M. Gill mentioned rotates back into view, this time looking different.

(Video: SDO, NASA; Digital Composition: Kevin M. Gill)

apod

Sponsored Link

3 thoughts on “The Solar Month

Comments are closed.

Sponsored Link
Broadsheet.ie