¿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2020 November 2 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Half Sun with Prominence Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Rainee Colacurcio Explanation: What's happening to the Sun? Clearly, the Sun's lower half is hidden behind a thick cloud. Averaging over the entire Earth, clouds block the Sun [4]about 2/3rds of the time, although much less over many land locations. On the Sun's upper right is a [5]prominence of magnetically levitating hot gas. The [6]prominence might seem small but it could easily [7]envelop our [8]Earth and persist for over a month. The featured image is a combination of two exposures, one optimizing the cloud and prominence, and the other optimizing [9]the Sun's texture. Both were taken about an hour apart with the same camera and from the same location in [10]Lynnwood, [11]Washington, [12]USA. The [13]shaggy texture derives from the Sun's [14]chromosphere, an atmospheric layer that stands out in the specifically [15]exposed color. The uniformity of the texture shows the surface to be [16]relatively calm, indicative of a Sun just past the solar minimum in its [17]11-year cycle. In the [18]years ahead, the Sun will progress toward a [19]more active epoch where [20]sunspots, prominences, and ultimately [21]auroras on Earth will be more common: solar maximum. Tomorrow's picture: waves of gravity __________________________________________________________________ [22]< | [23]Archive | [24]Submissions | [25]Index | [26]Search | [27]Calendar | [28]RSS | [29]Education | [30]About APOD | [31]Discuss | [32]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell ([36]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply. [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2011/HalfSunProm_Colacurcio_2974.jpg 3. mailto:%20%20raineelc%20@at@%20ymail%20.dot.%20com 4. https://phys.org/news/2015-05-image-globalcloud-fractionmap-earth.html 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190526.html 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_prominence 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_prominence#/media/File:Sun_earth_jupiter_whole_600.jpg 8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/earth/overview/ 9. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/ 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynnwood,_Washington 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_(state) 12. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160919.html 14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromosphere 15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-alpha 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190715.html 17. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/solar-cycles/en/ 18. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/what-will-solar-cycle-25-look-like-sun-prediction-model 19. https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/funny-dog-and-cat-playing-with-toilet-paper-picture-id519684264?k=6&m=519684264&s=170667a&w=0&h=o2kTosM-8zdocR3zutnOsoDRQ1fGKLOkqVWHp5rMQIo= 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150629.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190218.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201101.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 31. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=201102 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201103.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 42. http://www.mtu.edu/