Large Coronal Holes (July 19, 2013)
Hi-res TIF (2.0M)
You couldn't miss it even if you tried: an extensive coronal hole has rotated into view over the past several days (July 13-18, 2013) and it appears to cover about one quarter of the Sun, one of the largest coronal holes we have seen in some time. The magnetic field lines in a coronal hole extend out into the solar wind rather than coming back down to the Sun's surface as they do in other parts of the Sun. This image of particles heated to over 2 million degrees was taken in extreme UV light by SOHO. The hotter the temperature, the more extended the features are in the outer solar atmosphere.
SOHO began its Weekly Pick some time after sending a weekly image or video clip to the American Museum of Natural History (Rose Center) in New York City. There, the SOHO Weekly Pick is displayed with some annotations on a large plasma display.
If your institution would also like to receive the same Weekly Pick from us for display (usually in Photoshop or QuickTime format), please send your inquiry to firstname.lastname@example.org.