MSGID: 1:153/757.0 bfb54ec5   
   TZUTC: -0800   
   CHARSET: LATIN-1   
                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       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.   
      
                                   2022 March 2   
      
                     Record Prominence Imaged by Solar Orbiter   
       Image Credit: Solar Orbiter, EUI Team, ESA & NASA; h/t: Bum-Suk Yeom   
      
      Explanation: What's happened to our Sun? Last month, it produced the   
      largest prominence ever imaged together with a complete solar disk. The   
      record image, featured, was captured in ultraviolet light by the   
      Sun-orbiting Solar Orbiter spacecraft. A quiescent solar prominence is   
      a cloud of hot gas held above the Sun's surface by the Sun's magnetic   
      field. This solar prominence was huge -- spanning a length rivaling the   
      diameter of the Sun itself. Solar prominences may erupt unpredictably   
      and expel hot gas into the Solar System via a Coronal Mass Ejection   
      (CME). When a CME strikes the Earth and its magnetosphere, bright   
      auroras may occur. This prominence did produce a CME, but it was   
      directed well away from the Earth. Although surely related to the Sun's   
      changing magnetic field, the energy mechanism that creates and sustains   
      a solar prominence remains a topic of research.   
      
                    Tomorrow's picture: spiral galaxy NGC 2841   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.   
                   NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices   
                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5   
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)   
   SEEN-BY: 1/123 15/0 90/1 92/1 103/705 105/81 106/201 120/340 123/131   
   SEEN-BY: 129/305 330 331 134/100 153/105 135 757 6809 7715 218/700   
   SEEN-BY: 218/840 221/1 6 226/30 227/114 229/110 206 317 400 424 426   
   SEEN-BY: 229/428 664 700 240/1120 5832 266/512 282/1038 301/1 113   
   SEEN-BY: 301/812 317/3 320/219 322/757 335/364 341/66 342/200 396/45   
   SEEN-BY: 460/58 633/280 712/848 4500/1 5020/1042 5058/104   
   PATH: 153/757 221/6 301/1 229/426