Sun:
Features
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Solar Prominence:
Among the spectacular solar
phenomenon are the Prominence. Although Prominences are very frequently
on the sun, they are seen only during a total solar eclipse or with
the use of special instruments. They appear as red flame-like filaments,
rising from the edge of the Sun. These prominces may extend tens
of thousands of km or even a million km above the Sun, and they
gracefully fall back into the main Solar body. Smaller Prominences
are called 'SPICULES' which are commonly observed near the Sun's
polar regions.
The shapes and movemets of Prominences are dominated by the magnetic
fields of Sun Spots.A solar Prominence is seen in ultraviolet light
by instruments on board Skylab on 19 December 1973. The arc of ionized
helium extends 588,000 km - 45 times the diameter of the Earth across
the surface of the Sun.
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The Solar Wind:
The solar wind distorts the
magnetic field of the Sun and the Earth. Fluctuations in the wind
- a stream of electrically charged particles from the Sun - make
the Sun's field wave up and down, as revealed by the buckling of
the central neutral sheet. The Solar Wind blows the Earth's magnetosphere
into a long tail, and some of its particles are trapped in the Van
Allen Belts. The influence of the Solar wind on the Earth shows
up clearly in the colorful Aurora.
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![](images/Sun/112600flare.gif)
Image : Solar Flare
Source : Unknown
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![](images/Sun/traceloopt.jpg)
Image : Trace Loop
Source : Unknown
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The Solar Flare:
Another sporadic solar atmospheric
phemenon is the solar flare. Although solar flares are very short
in duration, an enormous amount of energy is released, especially
in the ultraviolet and x-ray regions. The solar flare is the brightest
eruptive activity on the Sun. It is sudden short-lived and with
a tremendous local increase in the light intensity in the chromosphere.Solar
flares occur in the region where a sunspot is located.
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Solar flares are very important
events as far as the earth is concerned. They emit ultraviolet radiation
as well as charged particles and cosmic rays. When the energetic
radiation and the stream of charged particles reach the neighbourhood
of the Earth, they cause magnetic storms and interfare with radio
transmission on the Earth.
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![](images/Sun/splashsol.jpg)
Image: Solar Flare
Source: Unknown
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