日愈活跃的太阳

2023年2月22日

Our Increasingly Active Sun
Image Credit & Copyright: Mehmet Ergün

Explanation: Our Sun is becoming a busy place. Only two years ago, the Sun was emerging from a solar minimum so quiet that months would go by without even a single sunspot. In contrast, already this year and well ahead of schedule, our Sun is unusually active, already nearing solar activity levels seen a decade ago during the last solar maximum. Our increasingly active Sun was captured two weeks ago sporting numerous interesting features. The image was recorded in a single color of light called Hydrogen Alpha, color-inverted, and false colored. Spicules carpet much of the Sun’s face. The brightening towards the Sun’s edges is caused by increased absorption of relatively cool solar gas and called limb darkening. Just outside the Sun’s disk, several scintillating prominences protrude, while prominences on the Sun’s face are known as filaments and show as light streaks. Magnetically tangled active regions are both dark and light and contain cool sunspots. As our Sun’s magnetic field winds toward solar maximum over the next few years, whether the Sun’s high activity will continue to increase is unknown.

Tomorrow’s picture: open space

日愈活跃的太阳
图像提供与版权: Mehmet Ergün

说明: 我们的太阳愈来愈忙碌。在二年前，太阳才刚从可连续数个月皆无太阳黑子的极宁静活动极小期出来。相较之下，今年的太阳已然异常活跃，其活跃性远超出此阶段应有的程度，已接近10年前上一个太阳活动极大期的活动位准。这张在2星期前取得的图像，记录了日愈活跃太阳的诸多有趣特征。这幅图像摄于名为氢α的单色波段，然后经过明暗反转并以假色呈现。其中，针状体覆盖了大部分的太阳表面。太阳的边缘之所以较明亮，则是因为吸光的低温太阳气体越来越厚所致，此现象称为临边昏暗。而紧贴在日盘的外头，有数个突起的闪烁日珥；当日珥出现在太阳盘面上时称为暗条，在此图里以亮条显示。磁场纠缠所在的活跃区，既有暗区也有亮区，其内有低温的太阳黑子。随着未来几年太阳往活动极大期靠近，太阳磁场缠绕的程度会持续增加，不过太阳是否会变得更活跃则仍然不明。

明日的图片: open space