Todays pic is one of the causes of the phenomenon frequently refered to as The Northern Lights.
Coronal Holes on the Sun
The ominous, dark shapes haunting the left side of the Sun are coronal holes -- low density regions extending above the surface where the solar magnetic field opens freely into interplanetary space. Studied extensively from space since the 1960s in ultraviolet and x-ray light, coronal holes are known to be the source of the high-speed solar wind, atoms and electrons which flow outward along the open magnetic field lines. During periods of low activity, coronal holes typically cover regions just above the Sun's poles. These coronal holes, however, have just moved into view near the Sun's equator, and particles escaping them have already caused notable aurora here on Earth. Coronal holes like this one may last for a few solar rotations before the magnetic fields shift and change configurations. Shown in false-color, this picture of the Sun on March 9 was made in extreme ultraviolet light by the EIT instrument on board the space-based SOHO observatory.
Credit: SOHO - EIT Consortium, ESA, NASA
A larger version of this piccy can be found here, this is a 828K Gif image.
Previous Pic Of The Day posts
17th Mar 03
16th Mar 03
15th Mar 03
14th Mar 03
13th Mar 03
11th Mar 03
09th Mar 03
Oh, I got the date correct today as well.
Coronal Holes on the Sun
The ominous, dark shapes haunting the left side of the Sun are coronal holes -- low density regions extending above the surface where the solar magnetic field opens freely into interplanetary space. Studied extensively from space since the 1960s in ultraviolet and x-ray light, coronal holes are known to be the source of the high-speed solar wind, atoms and electrons which flow outward along the open magnetic field lines. During periods of low activity, coronal holes typically cover regions just above the Sun's poles. These coronal holes, however, have just moved into view near the Sun's equator, and particles escaping them have already caused notable aurora here on Earth. Coronal holes like this one may last for a few solar rotations before the magnetic fields shift and change configurations. Shown in false-color, this picture of the Sun on March 9 was made in extreme ultraviolet light by the EIT instrument on board the space-based SOHO observatory.
Credit: SOHO - EIT Consortium, ESA, NASA
A larger version of this piccy can be found here, this is a 828K Gif image.
Previous Pic Of The Day posts
17th Mar 03
16th Mar 03
15th Mar 03
14th Mar 03
13th Mar 03
11th Mar 03
09th Mar 03
Oh, I got the date correct today as well.