Cool Astro Pics

From Feb 20th of this year, NASA‘s Solar Dynamics Observatory managed this observation:

A solar prominence gathered itself into a twisting cone, then rose up and broke apart in a delicate dance of plasma above the sun (Feb. 20, 2017). The event, observed in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, lasted just about four hours. Prominences are unstable clouds of plasma suspended above the sun’s surface by magnetic forces. This kind of event is not uncommon. The brighter area near the bottom of the images is an active region.

There’s also a couple of short movies at the link. I’ll just sit back and enjoy the picture.

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About Hue White

Former BBS operator; software engineer; cat lackey.

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