                        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.

                              2023 February 22
      The Sun is pictured in a color that allows high detail. The large
      orange ball has several bright streaks and a carpet-like texture.
      Several prominences are visible around the edges. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                         Our Increasingly Active Sun
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Mehmet Ergün

   Explanation: Our Sun is becoming a busy place. Only two years ago, the
   Sun was emerging from a solar minimum so quiet that months would go by
   without even a single sunspot. In contrast, already this year and well
   ahead of schedule, our Sun is unusually active, already nearing solar
   activity levels seen a decade ago during the last solar maximum. Our
   increasingly active Sun was captured two weeks ago sporting numerous
   interesting features. The image was recorded in a single color of light
   called Hydrogen Alpha, color-inverted, and false colored. Spicules
   carpet much of the Sun's face. The brightening towards the Sun's edges
   is caused by increased absorption of relatively cool solar gas and
   called limb darkening. Just outside the Sun's disk, several
   scintillating prominences protrude, while prominences on the Sun's face
   are known as filaments and show as light streaks. Magnetically tangled
   active regions are both dark and light and contain cool sunspots. As
   our Sun's magnetic field winds toward solar maximum over the next few
   years, whether the Sun's high activity will continue to increase is
   unknown.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

