January 10, 2000
You share your birthday with the light of distant galaxies that has been traveling for millions of years just to arrive here, now, alongside...
Brown Sun Bubbling
Birthday · January 10, 2000
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published January 10, 2000. Credit: Robert Gendler. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Our Sun may look like all soft and fluffy, but its not. Our Sun is an extremely large ball of bubbling hot gas, mostly hydrogen gas. The above picture was taken in a specific color of light emitted by hydrogen gas called Hydrogen-alpha. Granules cover the solar photosphere surface like shag carpet, interrupted by bright regions containing dark sunspots. Visible at the left edge is a solar prominence. 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. Astronomers are still working to understand, however, why so few neutrinos are measured from the Sun's core.
Image credit: Robert Gendler