Stereo Sun
This week's
stereo offering
features the now famous Active Region 9393,
the
largest sunspot group in the last 10 years.
Viewed with
red/blue glasses,
the stereo pair of images merges into one
3D representation of the Sun with AR9393 above
and right of center.
The images were recorded in
extreme ultraviolet light and AR9393
is seen as an extensive array of bright patches laced with
large graceful loops of arcing plasma.
In the extreme ultraviolet, active regions outshine the solar surface,
just the reverse of their appearance as dark sunspots against
a bright photosphere
when viewed in visible light.
Recorded 96 minutes apart on
March 30 by the space-based SOHO
EIT camera,
the pair produces an exaggerated but pleasing
stereo effect
due to solar rotation -- the Sun's surface moving slightly between the
two
exposures to offer different
perspectives.