sun – Secrets of Space https://secretsofspace.com Exploring planets, stars, galaxies, astronomy, the universe and space secrets Tue, 13 Oct 2020 22:42:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.2 Staring at the Sun https://secretsofspace.com/staring-at-the-sun/ Fri, 17 Jul 2015 19:00:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=1218 Continue reading Staring at the Sun ]]> Flaring, active regions of our sun.
Flaring, active regions of our sun.

One shouldn’t stare at the Sun with the naked eye but its perfectly good to stare at this composite picture from several specialized telescopes (NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array; their Solar Dynamics Observatory and Japan’s Hinode spacecraft). The active regions across the sun’s surface contain material heated to several millions of degrees with the blue-white areas showing the most energetic spots with mini-flares being ejected.

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X-rays stream off Sun https://secretsofspace.com/x-rays-stream-off-sun/ Tue, 24 Feb 2015 15:00:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=1091 Continue reading X-rays stream off Sun ]]> Data from NuSTAR and SDO is used to show the x-rays streaming off the sun
Data from NuSTAR and SDO is used to show the x-rays streaming off the sun

X-ray astronomy is used to detect and study astronomical objects and the Sun provides us with plenty of such data as we try and learn more about it. NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) and Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) provided data which was combined to form this picture of high energy x-rays streaming off the Sun. The high energy emissions, shown in blue (3 to 5 kilo-electron volts) and green (2 to 3 kilo-electron volts) are from NuSTAR’s data and come from gases that may be heated to over 3 million degrees. The SDO data in this composite image is the areas in red which consists of ultraviolet light  at 171 angstrom wavelength.

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Mini Solar Maximum in 2014 https://secretsofspace.com/mini-solar-maximum/ Wed, 11 Jun 2014 13:00:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=567

NASA’s screen-cast of the recent drop in solar (sunspot and flare) activity and the now expected cyclical shift back up, as solar activity starts to pick up again. As per the NASA-NOAA prediction panel which is comprised of leading solar physicists, this could lead to an upcoming mini solar maximum cycle in 2014.

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X4 Solar Flare and CME https://secretsofspace.com/x4-solar-flare-cme/ Wed, 28 May 2014 14:00:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=510 Continue reading X4 Solar Flare and CME ]]> X4 Flare - NASA
X4 Solar Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)

This February 25, 2014 solar event was a major X-class (X4) solar flare and coronal mass ejection (CME). The image captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows the massive and powerful x-class ejection from the Sun, which looks a lot like a shrimp. Thankfully there was no major damage to electrical systems on Earth or on the many satellites in orbit.

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Sun’s north pole https://secretsofspace.com/sun-north-pole/ Mon, 12 May 2014 15:00:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=439 Continue reading Sun’s north pole ]]> North Pole Sun - NASA
North Pole of the Sun as photographed by the SECCHI Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI) mounted on the STEREO-B spacecraft

Recent missions by NASA have provided us with brand new and unique views of the Sun. These three dimensional views of structures in the Sun’s atmosphere have resulted in an increased understanding of solar physics and better space weather forecasting. The above picture is the “virtual left eye” image of the Sun’s north pole; taken by SECCHI Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI) mounted on the STEREO-B spacecraft. STEREO-B is located behind the Earth and follows it in orbit around the Sun while STEREO-A is ahead of the Earth, leading it around the Sun. The EUVI imager is sensitive to wavelengths of light in the extreme ultraviolet portion of the spectrum (including bands at wavelengths of 304, 171 and 195 Angstroms).

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X-Class Solar Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) https://secretsofspace.com/x-class-solar-flare-cme/ https://secretsofspace.com/x-class-solar-flare-cme/#comments Mon, 07 Apr 2014 13:55:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=368 Continue reading X-Class Solar Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) ]]> X-Flare - NASA
X-Class solar flare and coronal mass ejection (X-Class CME) on the Sun

This image was produced by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory using a combination of two wavelengths, of extreme ultraviolet light. The end result is a stunning depiction of a X-Class Solar Flare and the associated Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from the Sun. This X-Class CME which occurred on January 7, 2014 was directed towards the Earth, and may have resulted in bright auroras visible on certain parts of Earth when it impacted our planet’s magnetosphere. Thankfully it did not have any reported deleterious affects on the satellites in orbit or electrical systems and equipment on Earth.

This X-class solar event was measured at X1.2. The “X” classification denotes a significant solar event in the overall scale, which goes from A, B, C, M, X and Z – in ascending order. Within each classification, the numerical value represents its strength on a linear scale, so this X1.2 CME would be quite low within the “X” class measurement. For reference, the highest recorded solar flare was an X28 but it is believed by some that the 1859 Carrington Event, may have been a X40 solar flare and CME, generating massive solar storms on Earth. Unless we are prepared for a similar event today, it could result in catastrophic failures of electronic/electrical systems and significant loss of life.

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Sun and the extreme ultraviolet radiation from corona https://secretsofspace.com/sun-extreme-ultraviolet-radiation-corona/ Sun, 16 Mar 2014 14:30:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=167 Continue reading Sun and the extreme ultraviolet radiation from corona ]]> Solar uv radiation
Extreme ultraviolet radiation emitted from the corona

This 1973 picture is a polaroid of the TV screen from the Skylab space station’s Extreme Ultraviolet monitor. Taken by astronaut Owen Garriott of the Skylab 3 mission, this system had finally allowed humans to view the Sun’s image in the extreme ultraviolet radiation emitted from the corona (its extremely hot outer atmosphere). The picture was taken with a Land-Polaroid SX-70 camera and was the first time that this iconic Polaroid camera was used in space.

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M-Class Solar Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) https://secretsofspace.com/m-class-coronal-mass-ejection/ Fri, 07 Mar 2014 15:00:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=204 Continue reading M-Class Solar Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) ]]> M-Class CME
Medium coronal mass ejection (M-Class CME) from August 18, 2013

Coronal mass ejection (CME) is the violent release of gas, radiation and magnetic fields, above the Sun’s corona and then often into space. This picture from August 18, 2013 is of a medium solar flare (M-class flare) and the associated coronal mass ejection. The solar flare is the strong bright region while the CME is the plasma streaking out. This picture was taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).

SDO is a mission launched in 2010 to study the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth. A CME directed towards Earth could affect affect us greatly. It could cause our planet’s magnetic field to shift suddenly; inducing electricity in large, powerful conductors. This would overload the affected electrical systems and cause massive damage to the critical electricity transformers and other grid infrastructure – with potentially drastic results for mankind.

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Why do we have red sunsets? https://secretsofspace.com/red-sunsets/ https://secretsofspace.com/red-sunsets/#comments Tue, 04 Mar 2014 15:00:00 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=194 Continue reading Why do we have red sunsets? ]]> Red Sunset Canada
Red sunset looking out looking towards the St-Lawrence River – in Rivière-du-Loup, Québec, Canada.

We have all seen beautiful sunsets – sometimes in person and often in pictures that are much like the one above. The sun often sets in  a scintillating reddish-orange aura. Why is the the sun red in colour? Even though it may look red to you when it is setting at your location on Earth, it is also looking bright white to those further to your west where it is not setting.  So we know that the sun itself isn’t really red in colour.

The main reason for the change in its colour is the large distance of the Sun (150,000,000 km) from the Earth. As the sun sets, the distance its light must travel through the Earth’s atmosphere also increases. This atmosphere is composed of many gases, water vapour and numerous particles that affect the sunlight passing through. They can scatter the light, which is made up of all colours, in such a way short-wavelength colours (green, blue, violet) are scattered out and they leave more of the red and yellow frequencies for us to see.

On the flip side, during the day the sky looks blue because the red light goes through our atmosphere while the blue and violet waves are scattered by the water vapour, gases and particles – hence visible to our eyes.

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Capturing the Sun’s storms https://secretsofspace.com/capturing-suns-storms/ Tue, 25 Feb 2014 16:13:54 +0000 http://secretsofspace.com/?p=154

This short film takes a number of high definition images of the Sun, taken by NASA’s sun-pointing semi-autonomous spacecraft – Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) – to provide this cool look at solar flares and storms.

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