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Corey S Powell (coreyspowell@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 03-Sep-2024 03:43:37 JST Corey S Powell

OMG.
A triangle of glowing plasma.
Bigger than the Earth.
Hovering over the surface of the Sun last week.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html #space #science #astronomy #sky
In conversation about 3 months ago from mastodon.social permalink
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1. Although the shape is unusual, the type of structure is not: it is part of an evolving solar prominence. Looping magnetic fields on the Sun channel the flow of energetic particles, sometimes holding glowing gaseous structures aloft for months. A prominence glows brightly because it contains particularly hot, dense, or opaque solar plasma. The surprising triangular structure occurred last week. Larger than our Earth, the iconic prominence was imaged by several solar photographers and documented by NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory to form and violently dissipate in about a day. The featured image was captured in a color of red light emitted strongly by hydrogen. Below, solar fibrils carpet the Sun's chromosphere, while the background sky is so faint in comparison that no stars are visible. Our Sun's surface has been quite active this year.
  https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/069/097/641/395/794/original/250445387af4345b.jpg

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