H-alpha image of the Sun's chromosphere

Caption: This false-color image was captured with a 10-cm telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) in the United States in July 2002. It depicts the full disk of the Sun using the H-alpha emission line of hydrogen. When observed in this spectral line, the Sun's chromosphere appears particularly prominent due to hydrogen atoms emitting light at the specific wavelength. This emission produces a distinctive red color, making features such as spicules (jets of plasma that look hair-like) and plage (bright patches in the chromosphere) highly visible. Several small solar prominences can be seen protruding from the edge of the solar disk. When prominences (also known as filaments) cross the face of the disk they appear as dark threads caused by the cooler material in the prominence absorbing light. The chromosphere is also visible in the violet part of the solar spectrum due to ionized calcium showing emissions in these wavelengths.
Credit: Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO)/New Jersey Institut of Technology (NJIT) credit link

License: PD Public Domain icons