Solar prominence

Solar Prominence with images of Jupiter and Earth for size comparison.

Solar prominence video clip (high resolution)

A prominence is a large, bright feature extending outward from the Sun's surface, often in a loop shape. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface in the photosphere, and extend outwards into the Sun's corona. While the corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases, known as plasma, which do not emit much visible light, prominences contain much cooler plasma, similar in composition to that of the chromosphere. A prominence forms over timescales of about a day, and stable prominences may persist in the corona for several months. Some prominences break apart and give rise to coronal mass ejections. Scientists are currently researching how and why prominences are formed.

A typical prominence extends over many thousands of kilometers; the largest on record was observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) in 2010 and is estimated at over 700,000 kilometres (430,000 mi) long ^[1] – roughly the radius of the Sun.

When a prominence is viewed from a different perspective so that it is against the sun instead of against space, it appears darker than the surrounding background. This formation is instead called a solar filament.^[1] It is possible for a projection to be both a filament and a prominence. Some prominences are so powerful that they throw out matter from the Sun into space at speeds ranging from 600 km/s to more than 1000 km/s. Other prominences form huge loops or arching columns of glowing gases over sunspots that can reach heights of hundreds of thousands of kilometres. Prominences may last for a few days or even for a few months.^[2] Flocculi (plural of flocculus) is another term for these filaments, and dark flocculi typically describes the appearance of solar prominences when viewed against the solar disk in certain wavelengths.

Images

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  Solar prominences.

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  Detached Solar prominence.

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  A limb's flare and after-flare prominence.

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  Major eruptive prominence (Skylab 1973).

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  Solar prominence STEREO behind.

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  Solar prominence STEREO ahead.

See also

• Coronal mass ejection
• Solar flare
• Corona

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Plasma mega-snake on the sun!". http://geeked.gsfc.nasa.gov/?p=4465. 
2. ^ "About Filaments and Prominences". http://solar.physics.montana.edu/ypop/Program/hfilament.html. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 

Further reading

• Galsgaard, K.; Longbottom, A.W. (1999). "Formation of solar prominences by flux convergence". Astrophysical Journal 510: 444. Bibcode 1999ApJ...510..444G. doi:10.1086/306559. 
• Low, B.C.; Fong, B.; Fan, Y. (2003). "The mass of a solar quiescent prominence". Astrophysical Journal 594 (2): 1060. Bibcode 2003ApJ...594.1060L. doi:10.1086/377042. 
• Golub, L.; Pasachoff J.M. (1997). The Solar Corona. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521485355. 

This article related to the Sun is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Solar phenomena Sun stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат? Platipus Records Paulo da Gama Look at other dictionaries: solar prominence — n. PROMINENCE (sense 3) …   English World dictionary solar prominence — noun large eruptions of luminous hydrogen gas that rise thousands of kilometers above the chromosphere • Hypernyms: ↑solar radiation * * * Astron. prominence (def. 3). * * * solar prominence A reddish cloud of incandescent gas shooting out from… …   Useful english dictionary solar prominence — Astron. prominence (def. 3). * * * Arched stream of hot gas projecting from the Sun s surface into the chromosphere or corona. Prominences can be hundreds of thousands of miles long and can be seen with the unaided eye during a total eclipse.… …   Universalium solar prominence — noun Large eruptions of luminous hydrogen gas that rise thousands of kilometers above the chromosphere of the Sun …   Wiktionary prominence — /prom euh neuhns/, n. 1. Also, prominency. the state of being prominent; conspicuousness. 2. something that is prominent; a projection or protuberance: a prominence high over a ravine. 3. Also called solar prominence. Astron. an eruption of a… …   Universalium Solar eclipse — A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth so that the Sun is wholly or partially obscured. This can only happen during a new moon, when the Sun and Moon are in conjunction as seen from the Earth. At least two and… …   Wikipedia solar — adjective a) Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from the sun; as, the solar system; solar light; solar rays; solar influence. b) Measured by the progress or revolution of the sun in the ecliptic; as, the solar year. See Also: extrasolar,… …   Wiktionary solar — solar1 /soh leuhr/, adj. 1. of or pertaining to the sun: solar phenomena. 2. determined by the sun: solar hour. 3. proceeding from the sun, as light or heat. 4. utilizing, operated by, or depending on solar energy: a solar building; a solar stove …   Universalium Prominence (disambiguation) — The term prominence can refer to:* Solar prominence, a phenomenon occurring on the Sun *Topographic prominence, a categorization of hills or mountains * Maxillary prominence, a facial bone *Prominence (phonetics) in linguistic expressions… …   Wikipedia Solar transition region — The solar transition region is a region of the Sun s atmosphere, between the chromosphere and corona. It is visible from space using telescopes that can sense ultraviolet. It is important because it is the site of several unrelated but important… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2025 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/695712 Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”