Prominences
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Active Region Prominence
Hinode Narrowband Filter Imager
Prominence at the solar limb observed with the Broadband Filter Imager (BFI) aboard the Hinode satellite on January 12, 2007. The measurements were performed in the Ca II H spectral line, to sample the chromosphere. This prominence belongs to an active region whose main spot can be seen as a black structure very near the limb on the right side of the image.
Prominences are structures made of cool chromospheric gas embedded in the very hot plasma of the solar corona. How this cool and dense material remains stable at such heights in the solar atmosphere is a mystery, but scientists believe that prominences are somehow supported by magnetic fields. To confirm or refute this idea, magnetic field measurements in the chromosphere are needed. EST will provide the sensitivity required to make such measurements.
Image credit: Luis Bellot Rubio (IAA-CSIC)
Observations: Hinode (ISAS/JAXA, NAOJ, NASA, STFC, ESA)