Explanation:
Sunspots -- magnets the size of the Earth -- are
normally seen flat on the Sun.
The above digital metamorphosis, however, shows a
sunspot as it appears at increasing heights, effectively in three dimensions.
The above false-colored image sequence of solar active region AR 10675 was taken in three very specific colors that effectively isolate
different layers
above the solar surface.
The first images show the Sun's photospheric
surface as it normally appears, covered with
granules.
The large dark sunspot sports a clear dark
umbra in the center surrounded by a lighter penumbra.
Images appearing toward the middle of the sequence show the
Sun
as in light predominantly emitted a few hundred kilometers above the
photosphere.
At this height, the continent sized
bubbling granules appear reversed,
and long lines of constant
magnetic force begin to appear.
The last images show the Sun at a few thousand kilometers into the
chromosphere.
Here magnetic field lines can be clearly followed outward from the
sunspot to distant regions.
