APOD 23: ORANGE SUN SPARKING

2014 May 6

The Sun has been observed displaying numerous tumultous regions including the active sunspot regions AR 2036 (near the top) and AR 2038 (near the center). Four years ago, the Sun was emerging from an unusually quiet Solar Minimum, lasting many years. The gradual brightening of the Sun's edges is caused by increased absorption of realtively cool gas, called limb darkening. Just over the Sun's edges, several filamentary prominences protrude, while prominences of the Sun's face are seen as light streaks. The magnetically tangled active regions containing relatively cool sunspots are seen as white dots. Currently at the Solar Maximum (the most active phase in the 11-year magnetic cycle), the Sun's twisted magnetic field is creating numerous solar "sparks", including flares, eruptive solar prominences, and coronal mass ejections which emit clouds of particles that may impact the Earth and cause auroras.