• Purple disk of the Sun's chromosphere highling multiple sunspots which appear as black dots and phages which appear as lighter areas compared to the rest of the disk.
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    This image of the Sun was taken on August 2, 2012, at 2:20 pm.  The telescope has a Calcium-K filter, which filters out all of the colors of the Sun except for one shade of deep violet.

    This particular color reveals features of the chromosphere, or atmosphere, of the Sun.  It is an especially good color for tracking the magnetic activity of stars.  Sunspots look dramatic in this color, as do the brighter plages (or clouds) around and above them.

    The Calcium-K color of light is sometimes used to estimate the ages of stars.  Younger stars have more magnetic activity.

    Telescope: Lunt 60mm Calcium-K

    Camera: Lumenera SKYnyx2-2M

  • Purple disk of the Sun's chromosphere highling multiple sunspots which appear as black dots and phages which appear as lighter areas compared to the rest of the disk.

Created:

August 02, 2012

Photographer:

Geneviève de Messières

ID#:

WEB12563-2012

Source:

Smithsonian Public Observatory Project

Owner:

Smithsonian Institution

Rights Usage:

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