Sunspots' Magnetism Revealed
By overlaying and fading between a surface image (in filtered white light) of the Sun to an image that reveals the magnetic structures (taken at almost the same time), we can reveal the magnetic nature of sunspots (Jan. 4, 2012). The initial still image shows quite a few sunspots scattered across the Sun's surface. These are the sites of intense magnetic fields emerging from the Sun's interior. The black and white magnetogram image reveals the sunspots to be clusters of magnetic activity, with the paired black and white areas (dipoles) indicating intense areas of north and south magnetic polarity. Note the correlation of the two kinds of images. These magnetically active regions are often the sources of solar storms. Both the white light continuum images and the magnetogram images were taken by the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument on SOHO.
Credit: NASA/ESA/SOHO
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SOHO: Pick of the Week (2013 Jan 04)
SOHO: Pick of the Week (2013 Jan 04)
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor