Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                  2019 May 26
                    A Solar Prominence Eruption from SDO
      Image Credit & Copyright: NASA [2] / Goddard [3] / SDO AIA Team [4]

Explanation: One of the most spectacular solar sights is an erupting
prominence. In 2011, NASA's Sun-orbiting Solar Dynamic Observatory [5]
spacecraft imaged an impressively large prominence [6] erupting from the
surface. The dramatic explosion [7]  was captured in ultraviolet light in the
featured time lapse video [8]  covering 90 minutes, where a new frame [9]  was
taken every 24 seconds. The scale of the prominence is huge -- the entire
Earth [10]  would easily fit under the flowing curtain [11]  of hot gas. A
solar prominence [12]  is channeled and sometimes held above the Sun's surface
by the Sun's magnetic field [13] . A quiescent prominence typically lasts
about a month, and may erupt in a Coronal Mass Ejection [14]  (CME) expelling
hot gas [15]  into the Solar System [16] . The energy mechanism that creates a
solar prominence [17]  is still a topic of research [18] . After our Sun
passes the current Solar Minimum [19] , solar activity [20]  like eruptive
prominences [21] are expected to become more common over the next few years.

                       Tomorrow's picture: volcanic sky

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [33] (MTU [34] ) & Jerry Bonnell [35]
                                  (UMCP [36] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [37] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [38]
              A service of: ASD [39]  at NASA [40]  / GSFC [41]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [42]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [3] https://www.nasa.gov/goddard
  [4] https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [5] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/main/i...
  [6] ap030223.html
  [7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBL1RBj-P1g
  [8]
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/ne...
  [9] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/multim...
  [10] http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0208/e...
  [11] ap011203.html
  [12] http://solar.physics.montana.edu/YPOP/Program...
  [13] https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/the_key.sh...
  [14] https://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/cme.html
  [15] ap010924.html
  [16] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/our...
  [17] ap030707.html
  [18] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1989ApJ...343.....
  [19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_minimum
  [20] ap071203.html
  [21] ap100510.html
  [22] ap190525.html
  [23] archivepix.html
  [24] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [25] lib/aptree.html
  [26] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
  [27] calendar/allyears.html
  [28] /apod.rss
  [29] lib/edlinks.html
  [30] lib/about_apod.html
  [31] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
  [32] ap190527.html
  [33] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [34] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [35] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
  [36] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [37] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [38] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
  [39] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [40] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [41] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [42] http://www.mtu.edu/

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