• Disk view of the Sun with two visible sunspots and a large prominence of plasma rising from the Sun's surface on the left side of the disk.
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    This image of the Sun was taken on January 12, 2012 at 1pm.  Though there are two sunspots visible and a number of filaments and prominences, the Sun was magnetically quiet today with little flare activity.

    Notice a long chain of prominences along the left edge (the eastern limb of the Sun), and a faint prominence just above that which forms a high arch with a broken tip.  A prominence is hot gas that has lifted off the surface of the Sun to follow a magnetic loop.

    Telescope: 100mm Hydrogen-alpha telescope.

    Camera: Lumenera SKYnyx 2-2M

  • Disk view of the Sun with two visible sunspots and a large prominence of plasma rising from the Sun's surface on the left side of the disk.

Created:

January 12, 2012

Photographer:

Geneviève de Messières

ID#:

WEB12256-2012

Source:

Smithsonian Public Observatory Project

Copyright:

Smithsonian Institution

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