                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2018 October 10
                                  Sun Dance
  Video Credit: NASA [2] , SDO [3] ; Processing:  Alan Watson via Helioviewer
                                      [4]

Explanation: Sometimes, the surface of our Sun seems to dance. In the middle
of 2012, for example, NASA's Sun-orbiting Solar Dynamic Observatory [5]
spacecraft imaged an impressive prominence [6] that seemed to perform a
running dive roll [7]  like an acrobatic dancer. The dramatic explosion [8]
was captured [9]  in ultraviolet light [10]  in the featured time-lapse video
[11]  covering about three hours. A looping magnetic field [12]  directed the
flow of hot plasma [13]  on the Sun [14] . The scale of the dancing prominence
[15]  is huge -- the entire Earth [16]  would easily fit under the flowing
arch [17]  of hot gas. A quiescent prominence typically [18]  lasts about a
month, and may erupt in a Coronal Mass Ejection [19]  (CME) expelling hot gas
[20]  into the Solar System [21] . The energy mechanism that creates a solar
prominence [22]  is still a topic of research [23] . Unlike 2012, this year
the Sun's surface is significantly more serene [24] , featuring fewer spinning
prominences, as it is near the minimum [25]  in its 11-year magnetic cycle
[26] .

                    Tomorrow's picture: launch and landing

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [38] (MTU [39] ) & Jerry Bonnell [40]
                                  (UMCP [41] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [42] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [43]
              A service of: ASD [44]  at NASA [45]  / GSFC [46]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [47]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [3] https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [4] https://helioviewer.org/
  [5] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/main/index.html
  [6] ap030223.html
  [7] https://youtu.be/VzALZjoIx0g?t=225
  [8] ap110307.html
  [9] http://cometal-comets.blogspot.com/2012/08/sdo-spinning-plasma.html?m=1
  [10] https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves
  [11] https://www.youtube.com/embed/hQFEHH5E69s
  [12] https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/the_key.shtml
  [13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_(physics)
  [14] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/in-depth/
  [15] ap000809.html
  [16] ap121207.html
  [17] ap170429.html
  [18] http://solar.physics.montana.edu/YPOP/Program/hfilament.html
  [19] https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/coronal-mass-ejections
  [20] ap010924.html
  [21] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_Solar_System
  [22] ap030707.html
  [23] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004ApJ...600.1043Z
  [24] ap180820.html
  [25]
https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/news-articles/solar-minimum-is-coming
  [26] ap071203.html
  [27] ap181009.html
  [28] archivepix.html
  [29] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [30] lib/aptree.html
  [31] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [32] calendar/allyears.html
  [33] /apod.rss
  [34] lib/edlinks.html
  [35] lib/about_apod.html
  [36] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=181010
  [37] ap181011.html
  [38] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [39] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [40] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [41] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [42] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [43] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [44] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [45] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [46] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [47] http://www.mtu.edu/
