The solstice occurs today at 8:56 PM Eastern Standard Time. At the solstice the sun reaches [
http://www.nsta.org
] its most southerly position in the sky [
http://www.archaeoa
] and winter begins for the Northern Hemisphere while summer starts South of the Equator. This false-color image of the sun was made [
http://www.lmsal.co
] about 48 hours before the solstice in the light of soft (lower energy) X-rays by a telescope on board the space-based Yohkho solar observatory [
http://www.solar.is
]. The normally bright, visible solar surface or photosphere appears dark in X-ray light while active regions in the solar corona [
http://www.lmsal.co
] which lie above the photosphere are particularly X-ray bright. Solar photospheric temperatures are about 6,000 degrees C. but the X-ray bright coronal regions have temperatures of millions of degrees. Why is the sun's corona so hot [
http://www.lmsal.co
]?
explanation
The solstice occurs today at 8:56 PM Eastern Standard Time. At the solstice the sun reaches [ http://www.nsta.org/programs/sst/aws/Default.htm ] its most southerly position in the sky [ http://www.archaeoastronomy.com/index.html ] and winter begins for the Northern Hemisphere while summer starts South of the Equator. This false-color image of the sun was made [ http://www.lmsal.com/YPOP/ProjectionRoom/latest.html ] about 48 hours before the solstice in the light of soft (lower energy) X-rays by a telescope on board the space-based Yohkho solar observatory [ http://www.solar.isas.ac.jp/english/index.html ]. The normally bright, visible solar surface or photosphere appears dark in X-ray light while active regions in the solar corona [ http://www.lmsal.com/YPOP/Spotlight/Tour/active2.html ] which lie above the photosphere are particularly X-ray bright. Solar photospheric temperatures are about 6,000 degrees C. but the X-ray bright coronal regions have temperatures of millions of degrees. Why is the sun's corona so hot [ http://www.lmsal.com/YPOP/Spotlight/Tour/tour05.html ]?
Explanation
false