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                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

                              2022 February 16

           IFRAME: https://www.youtube.com/embed/liapnqj9GDc?rel=0

                     Eiffel Tower Prominence on the Sun
                   Video Credit & Copyright: Hawk Wolinski

   Explanation: What's that on the Sun? Although it may look like a
   flowing version of the Eiffel Tower, it is a solar prominence that is
   actually much bigger -- about the height of Jupiter. The huge
   prominence emerged about ten days ago, hovered over the Sun's surface
   for about two days, and then erupted -- throwing a coronal mass
   ejection (CME) into the Solar System. The featured video, captured from
   the astrophotographer's backyard in Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA,
   shows an hour time-lapse played both forwards and backwards. That CME
   did not impact the Earth, but our Sun had unleashed other recent CMEs
   that not only triggered Earthly auroras, but puffed out the Earth's
   atmosphere enough to cause just-launched Starlink satellites to fall
   back. Activity on the Sun, including sunspots, prominences, CMEs and
   flares, continues to increase as the Sun evolves away from a deep
   minimum in its 11-year magnetic cycle.

     Birthday Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
                                 (post 1995)
                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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