Get a Grip

A big handle of hydrogen plasma jutting out from the edge of the sun today… hot stuff!

Hotter Than July

Your sun, as it appeared on July 29, 2012. 

Eruptive

Today was forecast to be a quiet day on the sun… NOT! I was out looking at the right time to catch this beautiful eruptive prominence. In 30 minutes it reared up (out) to height of 100,000 miles and then just as quickly collapsed back into the solar chromosphere. Here is a look into the transformation.  Just another <yawn> quiet sun day.

X-Rated

Solar active region 1429 has been popping of X-class flares like nobody’s business. Now decaying and rotating out of view, it still had a lot of punch yesterday when this picture (and 45 gigabytes of data) was recorded from my backyard. Tonality reversed and colored in the pink hues of hydrogen alpha. More to follow. 

Solar Nirvana, take II

This variation of my previous image inverts the disk detail and alters colors to show the filament structures (those soft cloud-like prominences seen against the solar surface) with greater contrast. Call it interesting, or a case of not knowing when to leave well enough alone. I’m not sure which interpretation I prefer… how about you?

The Tallest of Allest

This spiky prominence is the tallest I’ve ever seen… its faint tendrils stretch out to a distance almost as far as from the earth to the moon.