1. SOLAR PROMINENCE

2. SCOPE
INTRODUCTION
CAUSES
TYPES
FACTS
EFFECTS ON EARTH
CONCLUSION

3. 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.

4. 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

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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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!

9. 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

10. TYPES OF SOLAR PROMINENCES
ACTIVE PROMINENCES
ERUPTIVE
SPOT
TORNADO
QUIESCENT

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

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

13. 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)

14. 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, SoHO-EIT
Physics Week

15. SOLAR PROMINENCES
Lecture Prominences

16. SOLAR PROMINENCES
THE SUN NOVEMBER 14, 2011

17. 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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