Solar prominence

In <a href="/facts/Solar_physics/9IsQIHJE">solar physics</a>, a prominence, sometimes referred to as a filament, is a large <a href="/facts/Plasma_(physics)/1d3btMVU">plasma</a> and <a href="/facts/Magnetic_field/Ta8Ev588">magnetic field</a> structure extending outward from the <a href="/facts/Sun/CadPCVHh">Sun</a>'s surface, often in a loop shape. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface in the much brighter <a href="/facts/Photosphere/32a139LB">photosphere</a>, and extend outwards into the <a href="/facts/Solar_corona/W4WNqV9u">solar corona</a>. While the corona consists of extremely hot plasma, prominences contain much cooler plasma, similar in composition to that of the <a href="/facts/Chromosphere/TurLRnLk">chromosphere</a>. Like the corona, solar prominences are only visible to the naked eye during a <a href="/facts/Solar_eclipse/2XsCFG1a">total solar eclipse</a>.
Prominences form over timescales of about a day and may persist in the corona for several weeks or months, looping hundreds of thousands of kilometers into space. Some prominences may give rise to <a href="/facts/Coronal_mass_ejection/YxbMGrkS">coronal mass ejections</a>. Exact mechanism of prominence generation is an ongoing target of scientific research.
A typical prominence extends over many thousands of kilometers; the largest on record was estimated at over 800,000 km (500,000 mi) long, roughly of <a href="/facts/Solar_radius/5t1Xavju">solar radius</a>.

Solar prominence open-in-new

Solar prominence