A Prominent Solar Prominence from SOHO

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zorg.ch #109434 by [z]Barbara Harris @ 16.03.2009 00:00 - nach oben - A Prominent Solar Prominence from SOHO Explanation: What's happened to our Sun? It was sporting a spectacular -- but not very unusual -- solar prominence. A solar prominence is a cloud of solar gas held above the Sun's surface by the Sun's magnetic field. In 2004, NASA's Sun-orbiting SOHO spacecraft imaged an impressively large prominence hovering over the surface, pictured above. The Earth would easily fit under the hovering curtain of hot gas. A quiescent prominence typically lasts about a month, and may erupt in a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) expelling hot gas into the Solar System. Although somehow related to the Sun's changing magnetic field, the energy mechanism that creates and sustains a Solar prominence is still a topic of research. digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090315.html'; digg_skin = 'compact'; Credit & Copyright