Picture Credit: SOHO (ESA, NASA)
It's getting depressing for those of us who like to see stars in our night skies. The weather here in southern Ontario just hasn't been up to snuff since August. This has required a switch in my habits. My astronomy fix now requires sitting at the computer and seeing what's out there.
Lucky for me there are a number of interesting websites which keep me entertained. One such site is SOHO
This picture is from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, also known as "SOHO". SOHO is actually a space-based telescope floating out there in the abyss, at a point far out from Earth. It has special cameras which have been optimized to study the sun's output at specific wavelengths of light. This picture was taken in the wavelength of 304 Angstroms. The bright area is about 60,000 to 80,000 degrees Kelvin. That being said, there's another picture at 284 Angstroms which shows the same area shining brightly at 2 million degrees.
This bright area corresponds with a sunspot, a storm on the sun where the magnetic fields twist and turn and cause a welling of plasma at the surface. These solar storms sometimes give rise to solar flares.
Here's a SOHO picture of the sun through a wider spectrum of light. In this image the sunspot appears dark (hence the name). I haven't measured it but this sunspot has to be at least five times the size of the Earth (you can line up 109 Earths across the sun's face).
Nice to know that the sun's still shining despite our clouds and rain.
Maybe we'll have clear skies again soon -sigh!
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