The Sun Blows Off a Little Steam

By Nancy Atkinson - January 4, 2012 at 4:09 PM UTC | Solar Astronomy

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This is an awesome image of the Sun captured by Efrain Morales Rivera from the

Jaicoa Observatory

in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, on December 31, 2011. It shows multiple steam-like prominences on the eastern limb of the Sun. Rivera compared them to a group of trees, and said the now-active Sun is definitely something to watch in the coming new year. Of course, the Solar Dynamics Observatory is keeping a close watch on our star, and captured a huge eruption on the western limb of the Sun on January 2, 2012, with lots of solar material ejected into space; however, it was not Earth-directed. See the video below:

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com