APOD 1.8

It Came From the Sun
October 18, 2010

This picture of the Sun amazes me. The sun produces what are called prominences. These prominences are solar flares from the Sun that are held close to the Sun be the magnetic field surrounding the Sun. The Sun is so huge that the Earth could fit into the flare easily! That's huge! The Sun provides 99.8% of the ENTIRE mass of the solar system. Jupiter makes up most of the rest. Also, the core of the Sun is approx. 16 million degrees K! The sun is so impressive! Another interesting fact that I found as I was wondering through the hyperlinks, was that the density of the core of the Sun is 105 times heavier then water! The sun is so cool, well actually it's really is hot. The reason for such large prominences is caused by the fact that the Sun is coming up to its most active part of its "life". This is called the solar maximum. Other clues to that the Solar maximum is coming is the sight of many sun spots and prominences. Some of the prominences last for months while others are erratic and last for only a couple of days. The Sun is amazing and powers our lives!