This image of the Sun was taken on August 1, 2012 at 1:02 pm, with a red-light (hydrogen-alpha) telescope.

Several dark sunspots and brighter plages (or clouds of gas in the Sun's atmosphere) dot the disk.

On the left, a dark filament snakes across the Sun.  It's an arch of gas above the Sun, following a magnetic loop.  Interestingly, the filament runs off the edge of the Sun as we see it, making a small prominence.  It is rare to see a filament connected to a prominence.  However, they are the same phenomenon: a filament is a prominence seen from above.  This image illustrates that they are the same.

Telescope: Lunt 60mm Hydrogen-alpha

Camera: Lumenera SKYnyx2-2M

Created:

August 01, 2012

Photographer:

Geneviève de Messières

ID#:

WEB12562-2012

Source:

Smithsonian Public Observatory Project

Copyright:

Smithsonian Institution

Rights Usage:

Contact Smithsonian Institution

Terms of Use:

Smithsonian Terms of Use

For print or commercial use please see permissions information.