APOD
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.
Sunspot 875 Flares
Explanation: An unusually active sunspot region is now crossing the Sun. The region , numbered 875, is larger than the Earth and has produced several solar flare s over the past week. It should take a few more days for Sunspot 875 to finish crossing the solar disk. The above image of the Sun was taken last Wednesday in a very specific color of red light to bring up detail. Sunspot 875 , in the midst of erupting a large Class C solar flare , can be seen as the dark region to the upper right. In the above image , relatively cool region s appear dark while hot regions appear bright. On the far left, solar prominence s are visible hovering above the Sun's surface.
| Date | May 2, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit & Copyright: Greg Piepol (sungazer.net) |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |



