Starship Asterisk*

Large Eruptive Prominence Imaged by STEREO

Explanation: What's happened to our Sun? Last week, it produced one of the most power eruptive prominences ever seen. Pictured above, the prominence erupted in only a few hours and was captured in movie form by NASA's twin Sun-orbiting STEREO satellites. A quiescent solar prominence is a cloud of hot solar gas held above the Sun's surface by the Sun's magnetic field. Unpredictably, however, prominences may erupt, expelling hot gas into the Solar System via a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). As pictured above, many Earths would easily fit under the expanding ribbon of hot gas. Although somehow related to the Sun's changing magnetic field, the energy mechanism that creates and sustains a Solar prominence is still a topic of research.

<< Previous APOD

Discuss Any APOD

Next APOD >>

[/b]

See also: http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... 31&t=19070

A magnetic field can only be generated by an electric current. This is basic electrical theory. What is really happening with the Sun?

tesla wrote:A magnetic field can only be generated by an electric current. This is basic electrical theory. What is really happening with the Sun?

A magnetic field does not require an electric current. However, in the case of the Sun (and all magnetically active stars) the magnetic field is produced by currents flowing through conductive plasmas that move due to convection and to differential rotation. While many details remain uncertain, the basic principle involved is not all that complex, and is not controversial.

Not as good as Neufer, but.....

"As pictured above, many Earths would easily fit under the expanding ribbon"

As pictured above *where* ???

Yup! No matter how you brush it, comb it or wet it, there's always that one little tuft of hair that sticks up out of place.

Teeja wrote:As pictured above *where* ???

here

that is the worst image I have ever seen, the color level is so crappy you really can't see the full effect.

the april 18th 2010 apod presents a picture of the earth's star. identify the black spot in the upper left quadrant.

little black spot, well spotted, perhaps this is the start of a sun spot?

There's a little black spot on the sun today / It's the same old thing as yesterday -- Sting

I remember seeing a very similar image from Skylam in the 1970s.
Looking for it, I found it was taken on 1973 dec 19.
You can see it there:
http://www.physics.unlv.edu/~jeffery/as ... n_prom.gif
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/content_images/sun.jpg

That's because Planet X is influencing all stars and planets in this system as it's 4 times the mass of earth and to the left of the sun in the morning

bystander wrote:

Teeja wrote:As pictured above *where* ???

here

mwuhahah, well done bystander.

Paul