Ultraviolet image of a giant eruptive solar prominence, recorded on 21 August 1973 by the extreme ultraviolet spectroheliograph ( nanometre helium

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Ultraviolet image of a giant eruptive solar prominence, recorded on 21 August 1973 by the extreme ultraviolet spectroheliograph ( nanometre helium line) on board the Skylab space sation. Eruptive prominences originate as normal prominences - dense clouds of gas supported by the magnetic fields that link adjacent groups of sunspots. Occasional rapid changes in shape of magnetic fields occur and the distorted magnetic field catapults the prominence gas into space. Faint regions are coded red, with brighter regions coded yellow through blue and lilac to white. The white area is an active region associated with a sunspot group.

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Size: 5169px × 4100px
Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: astronomy, cosmology, eruption, imagery, prominence, science, skylab, solar, sun, suns, surface, ultraviolet