Our Sun may look like all soft and fluffy, but it's not.
Our Sun is an
extremely large ball of
bubbling hot gas , mostly
hydrogen gas.
The above picture of our Sun was taken last month in a
specific red color of light emitted by hydrogen gas called
Hydrogen-alpha
and then color inverted to appear blue.
In this light, details of the Sun's
chromosphere are particularly visible, highlighting numerous thin tubes of
magnetically-confined hot gas known as
spicules rising from the Sun like
bristles from a shag carpet.
Our Sun glows because it is hot, but it is
not on fire .
Fire is the rapid acquisition of oxygen,
and there is very little
oxygen on the Sun.
The energy source of our Sun is the nuclear
fusion of hydrogen into
helium deep within its core.
No sunspots or
large active regions were visible on the Sun this day, although some solar prominences
are visible around the edges.
