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May 29, 2007
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Jets of hot gas and sound waves escape sun's surface through magnetic "portals".
Researchers have found that the sun's magnetic field allows the release of wave energy from its interior, permitting sound waves to travel through thin fountains, or "spicules", upward and into the chromosphere. The chromosphere is the region of the sun that looks like a red ring of fire during an eclipse.
Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation
Images credited to the National Science Foundation, a federal agency, are in the public domain. The images were created by employees of the United States Government as part of their official duties or prepared by contractors as "works for hire" for NSF. You may freely use NSF-credited images and, at your discretion, credit NSF with a "Courtesy: National Science Foundation" notation.
Additional information about general usage can be found in Conditions.
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Related story: Magnetic Field Uses Sound Waves to Ignite Sun's Ring of Fire