SOHO shows its colors (March 13, 2009)

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All of the SOHO's images of the Sun in this colorful arrangement were taken about the same time on Mar. 10, 2009. Each shows the Sun in different wavelengths of light to reveal different solar features. And all images were taken in black and white, but were colorized so that scientists could instantly know which image was taken by which instrument and wavelength. All images, except the center image, were taken in different wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light. The center image shows the Sun's surface in filtered, visible light: if there were any sunspots, you'd see them there. Starting clockwise from the upper left, the wavelengths observed capture hotter and hotter material, progressively higher in the Sun's atmosphere, ranging from 60,000 degrees (red image) to 2 million degrees (yellow image). Yes, strangely, the outer atmosphere is hotter than the surface and solar scientists are working to figure out the physical processes that make that happen.

SOHO began its Weekly Pick some time after sending a weekly image or video clip to the American Museum of Natural History (Rose Center) in New York City. There, the SOHO Weekly Pick is displayed with some annotations on a large plasma display.

If your institution would also like to receive the same Weekly Pick from us for display (usually in Photoshop or QuickTime format), please send your inquiry to steele.hill@gsfc.nasa.gov.