(Click Me!)
(by Todd Hoeksema)
The Sun's disk appears brightest at the center because that's where we have the clearest view of the hottest part of the atmosphere.
The big prominence erupting off to the left is a reminder of the importance of the magnetic field, both for understanding the solar atmosphere, or corona, and for anticipating how the Earth will be affected by changes on the Sun.
The nubby appearance that's most easily seen around the edge, or limb, suggests the presence of large convecting cells called supergranules. You can really only see the boiling supergranules in velocity pictures, like the images we make with the MDI instrument on SOHO.
We call ourselves the Stanford Solar Center because, after all, the Sun is the center of the solar system and our research group at Stanford University is responsible for the Solar Center.
The Solar Physics Research Group here at Stanford studies helioseismology, or "earthquakes" on the Sun. By analyzing movement data, researchers can learn what's happening deep in the solar interior. The wave image above was derived from a sound wave image based on doppler velocity data and generated by group member Sasha Kosovichev.
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