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The sun's ethereal corona bursts into view during the brief moments of totality during the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, revealing the normally invisible outer atmosphere of our star. This extraordinary phenomenon occurs only when the Moon perfectly aligns between Earth and Sun, blocking the solar disk and allowing scientists to observe the corona's complex magnetic structures extending millions of kilometers into space. Visible streamers and plumes within the corona reflect the Sun's magnetic field activity during this period of the 11-year solar cycle, with asymmetrical patterns indicating regions of higher solar activity and prominences potentially visible along the darkened lunar edge as delicate pink or red features of cooled hydrogen gas.
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Jonathan Kingston
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2610x3263 / 5.7MB
http://www.kingstonimages.com
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Science Revealed | Making Wonder Visible
The sun's ethereal corona bursts into view during the brief moments of totality during the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, revealing the normally invisible outer atmosphere of our star. This extraordinary phenomenon occurs only when the Moon perfectly aligns between Earth and Sun, blocking the solar disk and allowing scientists to observe the corona's complex magnetic structures extending millions of kilometers into space. Visible streamers and plumes within the corona reflect the Sun's magnetic field activity during this period of the 11-year solar cycle, with asymmetrical patterns indicating regions of higher solar activity and prominences potentially visible along the darkened lunar edge as delicate pink or red features of cooled hydrogen gas.