Other Features

Solar Prominences

A solar prominence is a large cloud of gases that rises from the chromosphere and projects into the corona. Prominences vary in shape, size, and motion.

During a solar eclipse, prominences may be observed as reddish clouds hanging above the sun. They may reach as high as 50 000 km above the corona and remain suspended for several months. When they reach this height, they produce coronal mass ejections, or bursts of explosions that send large amounts of material to space at the speed of 1000 km per second.