SOLAR PROMINENCE

SCOPE INTRODUCTION CAUSES TYPES FACTS EFFECTS ON EARTH CONCLUSION

SOLAR PROMINENCES A SOLAR PROMINENCE IS AN ARC OF GAS THAT ERUPTS FROM THE SURFACE OF THE SUN CLOUDS OF GASES FROM THE CHROMOSPHERE WILL RISE AND ORIENT THEMSELVES ALONG THE MAGNETIC LINES FROM SUNSPOT PAIRS. THESE ARCHES OF GAS ARE CALLED SOLAR PROMINENCES.

SOLAR PROMINENCES PROMINENCES ARE HELD ABOVE THE SUN'S SURFACE BY STRONG MAGNETIC FIELDS AND CAN LAST FOR MANY MONTHS PROMINENCES CAN LOOP HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MILES INTO SPACE PROMINENCES WILL ERUPT, SPEWING ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF SOLAR MATERIAL INTO SPACE

SOLAR PROMINENCES Sunspots are cool, but the gas above them is hot!

SOLAR PROMINENCES SOLAR PROMINENCES CAN BE AS SMALL AS A SUNSPOT, ABOUT THE SIZE OF EARTH, OR EXTEND TO NEARLY THE DIAMETER OF THE SUN ITSELF THEY CAN CONTAIN 10 TO 100 BILLION TONS OF HEATED PLASMA, EXTENDING FAR INTO THE CORONA OF THE SUN. ALTHOUGH THE SURROUNDING GASES IN THE CORONA CAN BE UP TO 1 MILLION DEGREES HOT, PROMINENCE GASES CAN BE FAR COOLER

SOLAR PROMINENCES PROMINENCES CAN LAST TWO TO THREE MONTHS AND CAN EXTEND 30,000 MILES (50,000 KILOMETERS) OR MORE ABOVE THE SUN'S SURFACE THEY CAN ERUPT FOR A FEW MINUTES TO HOURS AND SEND LARGE AMOUNTS OF MATERIAL RACING THROUGH THE CORONA AND OUTWARD INTO SPACE AT 600 MILES PER SECOND (1,000 KILOMETERS PER SECOND

SOLAR PROMINENCES PROMINENCES CAN BECOME UNSTABLE ESPECIALLY WHEN NEW MAGNETIC FIELD LOOPS ARE FORMED BENEATH THEM AND MOVE UPWARDS, COLLIDING WITH THEM FROM BELOW THESE COLLISIONS CAN TRIGGER SOLAR FLARES RELEASING POWERFUL BLASTS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY UNDER SOME CONDITIONS, THE TRAPPED GASSES CAN BE HEATED TO NEARLY 50 MILLION C; FAR HOTTER THAN THE INTERIOR OF THE SUN ITSELF!

SOLAR PROMINENCES THE GAS MOTIONS IN PROMINENCES ARE COMPLEX AT THE ATOMIC SCALE, INDIVIDUAL CHARGED PARTICLES 'ORBIT' ALONG A MAGNETIC LINE OF FORCE IN A SPIRAL MOTION. THE PARTICLES MAY BOUNCE FROM END TO END ALONG THE FIELD LINE, REVERSING THEIR DIRECTION AT LARGER SCALES, WE SEE PLASMA FLOWING AT SPEEDS OF UP TO 50 KM/SEC ALONG EVERY PART OF A PROMINENCE, THESE PLASMAS ARE OFTEN SEEN MOVING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS; A PHENOMENON CALLED COUNTER-STREAMING

TYPES OF SOLAR PROMINENCES ACTIVE PROMINENCES ERUPTIVE SPOT TORNADO QUIESCENT

SOLAR PROMINENCES Typical size is 100,000 km May persist for days or weeks Earth

SOLAR PROMINENCES THIS PARTICULARLY LARGE SOLAR PROMINENCE WAS OBSERVED BY ULTRAVIOLET DETECTORS ABOARD THE SOHO SPACECRAFT IN SEPTEMBER, 1999

SOLAR PROMINENCES EARTH COULD EASILY FIT BETWEEN ITS OUTSTRETCHED “ARMS.” DARK REGIONS IN THIS TRACE IMAGE HAVE TEMPERATURES LESS THAN 20,000 K; THE BRIGHTEST REGIONS ARE ABOUT 1 MILLION K (NASA)

SOLAR PROMINENCES September 23, 1999 SoHO-EIT THEY APPEAR DARK BECAUSE THE GAS INSIDE IS COOL COMPARED TO THE HOT PHOTOSPHERE BELOW. BUT WHEN WE SEE A FILAMENT IN PROFILE AGAINST THE DARK SKY IT LOOKS LIKE A GIANT GLOWING LOOP -- THESE ARE CALLED PROMINENCES AND THEY CAN BE SPECTACULAR. September 23, 1999 SoHO-EIT Physics 777 Week 12 2004

SOLAR PROMINENCES Lecture 9 Prominences

SOLAR PROMINENCES THE SUN NOVEMBER 14, 2011

SOLAR PROMINENCES VERY LARGE SOLAR PROMINENCE (1/2 MILLION KM ACROSS BASE, I.E. 39 EARTH DIAMETERS) TAKEN FROM SKYLAB IN UV LIGHT.

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