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This is an example of a "running difference" image of the sun's
surface revealed by the TRACE satellite using its 171 angstrom filter. This
filter is specifically sensitive to iron ion (FE IX/X) emissions and records a C3.3 flare and
mass ejection in AR 9143 in 171Å on 28 Aug. 2000. The flare activity is
caused by increased
electrical activity as fast moving plasma sweeps over surface ridges,
resulting in increased electrical activity on the windward side of the mountain
ranges.
This "running Difference" image of the sun's surface was
captured by SOHO. This NASA image was taken on May 27th 2005 at 19:13 using the
195A filter that is sensitive to iron ion emissions. These same complex visible
surface structures are visible even days and weeks later.
The surface can also be seen in raw satellite images. This
close up standard image of the surface layer is provided by Trace using its 171
angstrom filter. This close up image shows remarkable surface detail and also
shows a close up view of the solar wind created from the electrical arcs. These
arcs create streamers as they travel through the sun's outer atmosphere of mass
separated plasmas.
The same remarkable surface detail is still clearly visible in
the transitional region two and half minutes later although the lighting has
changed slightly due to changes in the electrical arcs coming from the surface.
Unlike in the running difference images, in "standard" close up images we can
also see the base of the electrical arcs as they rise off the surface into the
silicon plasma to form the familiar coronal loop patterns seen in the upper
atmosphere.
This
Trace/Yohkoh composite image of solar moss activity on the sun's transition
layer. The blue area of the image shows Fe IX/X iron ion emissions in the lower
part of the arc that are visible to the Trace satellite using its 171A filter.
As the arc reaches the warmer layers of the chromosphere, the arcs glow in soft
x-rays that Yohkoh can observe. This composite image shows the flow of
electricity through iron ion arcs that travel from sun's surface, through the
relatively cool photosphere and into a warmer corona where the iron particles
pick up heat and begin to emit soft x-rays. This is
a movie animation of the overlay from NASA.
The surface crust of the sun is mostly made of iron. It is
likely however that the surface varies in iron content from one part of the
crust to another. Parts of the surface may look much like the fragment above,
while other regions along the surface may contain more iron and look like the
fragments below.
While mostly composed of iron, surface composition and iron
content varies from one area of the surface to another. Just like the crust of
the earth, the crust and surface layer of the sun is not homogenous.
Dr. Kristian Birkeland produced results in his experiments with
an electromagnetic cathode sphere in his lab in the early 1900's that mirror
observations from the Yohkoh satellite. Notice the energy and the photon
emissions are concentrated in the arcs in both images. Coincidence?
http://www.thesurfaceofthesun.com
See also:
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