Saturday, April 13, 2013

APOD 4.3: A Recent Solar Flare

On April 11 the Sun emitted its strongest solar flare to date in 2013. It was followed by a coronal mass ejection in the direction of Earth.

The picture, taken from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, does not portray the real colors of course as it is in extreme ultraviolet light. The solar flare was an M6.5 class flare erupting from active region AR 11719, which is near the center of the solar disk. The sunspot areas of visible light are regions with intense magnetic fields and they become more prominent as solar maximum approaches. Other glowing areas designate glowing plasma tracing the magnetic field lines. The coronal mass ejection that occured will have an effect on the Earth's magnetosphere, leading perhaps to auroral displays.


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