Coronal Cells Time-Lapse - EUVI STEREO-B

Scientists in the Naval Research Laboratory's Space Science Division have discovered a previously unreported solar feature -- Coronal Cells -- where high-temperature coronal emission is confined to discrete plumes that extend upward from unipolar concentrations of magnetic flux. The NRL researchers think that future studies of these cellular regions will lead to an improved understanding of magnetic field line reconnection at the boundaries of coronal holes, and how these changes are transmitted outward into the solar wind.

This movie shows the changes of a cellular region as solar rotation carries it across the solar disk. The camera is fixed on the region (panning with it) and shows the plumes change to cells and back to plumes again during the interval June 7-14, 2011, as seen from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager aboard the NASA STEREO-B spacecraft.

NRL Researchers Discover New Solar Feature


Credit: Fe XII images were obtained from EUVI instrument aboard NASA STEREO-B spacecraft.