Sunspot Canopy
Posted by JAC on 11/30/2010, 7:34 am





Two days ago, sunspot 1130 didn't exist.

Now the fast-growing sunspot group is the largest visible feature on the sun's disk with twin cores both larger than Earth.

The amazing thing, however, is the invisible part.

Using extreme ultraviolet filters outside the range of human vision, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory took this picture of the sunspot's magnetic canopy on Nov. 30th:

In the image, curvaceous lines of magnetism are illuminated by hot solar plasma trapped inside the canopy.

If the magnetic field becomes unstable and explodes, as sunspot magnetic fields tend to do, a cloud of plasma could come flying toward Earth.

This active region merits watching for the next few days until the sun's rotation turns it away from our planet.








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Sunspot Canopy - JAC, 11/30/2010, 7:34 am
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