Solar prominence
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A solar prominence is a large bright feature located in the solar corona. While the corona consists of extremely hot ionized gases, known as plasma, which do not emit much visible light, prominences contain much cooler plasma, similar in composition to that of the chromosphere. A prominence forms over timescales of about a day, and may persist in the corona for several weeks. Many prominences break apart and give rise to coronal mass ejections.
Despite decades of study, the mechanism by which prominences form is not yet well understood. Theories have not satisfactorily explained how prominences can remain stable for such a long time when they are much denser than their surroundings. Magnetic fields are known to be the dominant influence on gas motions within the corona, but the exact form of magnetic interaction required to produce and maintain a large prominence has yet to be determined.
A typical prominence extends over many thousands of kilometers; the largest observed by SOHO was seen in 1997 and was some 350,000 km (216,000 miles) long <ref>EIT gallery. Retrieved on 2005-10-15.</ref> - some 28 times the diameter of the Earth. The mass contained within as prominence is typically of the order of 100 billion tonnes of material.
[edit] References
<references />
- Galsgaard, K., Longbottom, A.W. (1999). "Formation of solar prominences by flux convergence". Astrophysical Journal 510: 444.
- Low, B.C., Fong, B.; Fan, Y. (2003). "The mass of a solar quiescent prominence". Astrophysical Journal 594: 1060.
- Golub, L., Pasachoff J.M. (1997). The Solar Corona. Cambridge University Press.
| Image:Sun picture.png |
| Structure: Solar Core - Radiation Zone - Convection Zone |
| Atmosphere - Photosphere - Chromosphere - Transition region - Corona |
| Extended Structure: Termination Shock - Heliosphere - Heliopause - Heliosheath - Bow Shock |
| Solar Phenomena: Sunspots - Faculae - Granules - Supergranulation - Solar Wind - Spicules |
| Solar flares - Solar Prominences - Coronal Mass Ejections |
| Other: Solar System - Solar Variation - Solar Dynamo - Heliospheric Current Sheet - Solar Radiation - Solar Eclipse |
| The Sun is also occasionally referred to by its Latin name: Sol. |
fr:Protubérance solaire ko:태양홍염 it:Protuberanza solare pl:Protuberancje ru:Протуберанец fi:Protuberanssi zh:日珥
