Starship Asterisk*

neufer wrote:

biddie67 wrote:
If this picture had been displayed in the normal "sun-like" colors, the forces and power
of the sun's activity would not have been as emphatically recognized.

If this picture had been displayed in it's normal "sun-like" 193 Å Extreme Ultra-Violet color,
the forces and power of the sun's activity would probably have made you go blind.

• • Memorable quotes for Stanley Kubrick's _The Killing_ (1956)
  Maurice Oboukhoff (Kola Kwariani): You have undoubtedly heard of the Siberian goatherd who tried to discover the true nature of the sun; he stared up at the heavenly body until it made him blind. There are many things of this sort, including love, and death, and... maybe we'll discuss this later today.

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Spiky Spicules

Spicules pop up from the Sun constantly. These dynamics jets are smaller features of the Sun that are commonly ignored. However, with the detailed close-up that SDO can provide, we can see these much more clearly than ever before. Over a few hours observation of the northern pole area of the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light (Aug. 3, 2010), we can see a continual frenzy of these features. At any one time there are around 60,000 to 70,000 active spicules on the Sun; an individual spicule typically reaches 3,000-10,000 km altitude above the photosphere. A couple of them rise up ten to 20 higher than most of the others. Spicules are an integral part of the dynamic nature of the Sun.

Credit NASA/Goddard/SDO

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Magnetic Structures

This composite image shows the HMI magnetic field in blue and orange (indicating opposite polarity) aligned with the AIA 171 channel in extreme ultraviolet superimposed over it (May 23, 2010). The juxtaposition is especially effective at showing how the arcs that we observe in UV light emerge from regions of strong magnetic field.

Credit: NASA/Goddard/SDO

biddie67 wrote:Previously I had posted a question about the use of false-color in astrophotographs - sort of with a personal feeling as to why not just use colors that our human eyes are more accustomed to from the world around us. One of the board members kindly answered, saying that false-color frequently emphasizes details and aspects of the subject that, if displayed in "normal" colors, the viewer wouldn't even notice. This is a perfect example!

If this picture had been displayed in the normal "sun-like" colors, the forces and power
of the sun's activity would not have been as emphatically recognized.

Click to view full size image

Solar eruption and a flare:

An AIA image in 193 Å after a solar eruption and a flare. The dark regions show the site of evacuated material from the eruption, and the large magnetic loops were formed during the flare.

Credit: NASA/Goddard/SDO

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