High Resolution Image of the Sun

The image below originates from Big Bear Solar Observatory in the USA and was obtained by ASWFC in digital format from Solar Terrestrial Despatch at the University of Lethbridge in Canada.

It is a high resolution image of a solar region taken on September 23, 1993. The darker areas indicate regions of cooler temperature and generally trace out the complex magnetic fields which occur in such regions.

It is the complexity of twisted magnetic fields in sunspot regions which can store huge amounts of energy. It is this energy which is released abruptly during a solar flare. Solar flares have important effects here on earth; especially on HF communications for which they cause fadeouts.

Material prepared by Richard Thompson