Mysteries of the Sun

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New M-flare

 

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Solar filament stretches about a million miles​

 

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[twilyth]

An interesting fact about the sun is that it doesn't have enough mass to support fusion just from gravitational compression at the core. The only reason the sun works is because of quantum tunneling. Since particles behave like waves and their position is determined by probability, they sometimes can appear on the other side of an energy barrier that otherwise they wouldn't be able to penetrate. In essence, the particle disappears from one location an appears at another without traversing the distance in between, even if it happens to be inside the nucleus of an atom.

From Wikipedia:

Quantum tunnelling or tunneling (see spelling differences) refers to the quantum mechanical phenomenon where a particle tunnels through a barrier that it classically could not surmount. This plays an essential role in several physical phenomena, such as the nuclear fusion that occurs in main sequence stars like the Sun.

 

[a_ump]

i think a lot of education would be better if it was that quick and to the point.

 

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3 years of sun in 4 minutes

 

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New X-flare

 

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I have no words to describe this awesomeness ...

Watch the giant spot rotate into view and grow right before your eyes in this 72-hour time-lapse video taken by SOHO’s HMI imager Oct. 18-20, 2014

 

[Drone]

Two nice videos. One informative and other shows Venus's transit in 2012

 

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new solar flare

 

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Fireworks on the sun

The largest sunspot since November 1990 is seen traveling across the front of the sun in these images from NASA's SDO

 

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Now some physics:
http://irischallenge.arc.nasa.gov/iris_weeklyquestions.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/solar-rotation_prt.htm

Solar differential rotation:​

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The Sun rotates on its axis just as Earth does. Since the Sun is a ball of plasma, it does not have to rotate rigidly like the solid planets and moons do. In fact, the Sun's equatorial regions rotate faster (~24 days) than the polar regions (>30 days).

Here's the formula that represents the sidereal rotation velocity in deg/day​

ω (b) = 14.499 (±0.006) – 2.54 (±0.06)*sin^2(b) – 0.77 (±0.09)*sin^4(b)​

As you can see it's easy to calculate it for the equator (when b=0). Then ω (b) = 14.499 (±0.006).

Roughly 14.5 degrees per day. And to get the time you just do this 360 / 14.5 ~ 24 days

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new blast

 

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A mid-level M7.9-class solar flare emerged from an active region on the sun on Nov. 5, 2014. SDO caught the event in extreme UV light colorized in red and gold.

 

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Giant sunspot returns and it's bigger and badder than ever

Here's amazing timelapse video (you can find 720p, 1080p and even 4k version, just click the YouTube link)

 

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New image

 

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old pic of sunspot AR2205

And this one is new, sunspot AR2214

Look at the size of that thing!

 

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Sharper solar flare

New sunspots

 

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Active regions AR2221 and AR2222 have unstable 'beta-gamma' magnetic fields that harbor energy for M-class flares; they could "go off" at any moment. Any eruptions from the duo will probably be Earth-directed as they continue to turn toward our planet.

 

[Drone]

Winter sucks monkey balls and I miss the Sun but what can I do ... just enjoying the pictures of the Sun

New coronal holes, filaments and flares

 

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New sunspots

 

[twilyth]

Not sure if this was already covered - Plasma corkscrews may help predict CMEs

For the first time, researchers have watched the sun’s magnetic field force plasma into a spring-shaped curl during a powerful solar eruption known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME. The new observations contradict previous research suggesting that the twisted plasma structures are precursors of CMEs, which can disable satellites and disrupt air travel when directed toward Earth. The new findings appear August 28 in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Understanding the interplay between the magnetic curls and CMEs could help solar scientists spot impending solar storms well in advance, says astrophysicist Angelos Vourlidas of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., who was not involved with the new study. “A reconciled theory would potentially allow us to see the early stages of a CME and issue warnings days instead of hours before it reaches Earth,” he says.

pix and video at link