Internet Encyclopedia of Science
SOLAR TOPICS
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filament (on the Sun)


filament
A strand of relatively cool gas suspended by magnetic fields over the solar photosphere so that it appears as a dark line over the Sun's disk. A filament on the limb of the Sun seen in emission against the dark sky is called a prominence. Filaments often mark areas of magnetic shearing and can be seen only in the centers of strong spectral lines, such as H-alpha or the H and K lines of calcium.

A filament channel is a broad pattern of fibrils in the chromosphere, marking where a filament may soon form or where a filament recently disappeared.


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