The Sun from SOHO
November 08, 2000
Provided by: NASA/GSFC
Summary authors & editors: Jim Foster
The above image was taken yesterday (November 7, 2000) from NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. The Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on-board the SOHO spacecraft images the solar atmosphere at several ultraviolet wavelengths, and therefore, shows solar material at different temperatures. On this image, taken in the ultraviolet wavelengths at 304 Angstroms (blue light is visible at approximately 4800 Angstroms), the bright material is at 60,000 to 80,000 degrees Kelvin - about 108,000 to 144,000 degrees F. Solar activity was listed at a level 8 yesterday, with 10 being a very high level of activity. A more active Sun is likely to result in increased auroral activity here on Earth. Since we're at about the peak in the 11-year solar cycle, energetic auroras, some likely visible in the central US, can be expected during the next several months.
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