Tossing out a Chunk (April 15, 2005)
Hi-res TIF image (4.1M)
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For the second week in a row, SOHO's EIT 304 Angstrom instrument has captured a nice eruptive prominence. This cloud of charged particles from April 10, 2005 is heading out from the Sun into space. The images (taken in six hour increments) before this one show a prominence emerging around the le ft side of the Sun being carried into view by the Sun's rotation. For reasons not entirely understood, the dynamic forces that held it in place above the Sun's surface changed, and it was blasted away. At its longest point it extends about 20 times the diameter of Earth. Prominences are huge clouds of relatively cool, dense plasma suspended in the Sun's hot, thin corona. At times, they can erupt, escaping the Sun's atmosphere. Emission in this spectral line of EIT 304 Angstrom shows the upper chromosphere at a temperature of about 60,000 degrees K. Please visit our Newsroom for press releases and media coverage.
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. |
