Astronomy Picture of the Day

Good morning RP. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "The Big Corona." Remember the Solar Eclipse of 2017? This image digitally combines short and long exposures that were processed to highlight faint and extended features in the corona during this event. The intricate layers and glowing caustics of an ever changing mixture of hot gas and magnetic fields are now visible in the Sun's corona. Faint details on the night side of the New Moon can even be made out, illuminated by sunlight reflected from the dayside of the Full Earth. Frames taken seconds before and after the total eclipse show glimpses of the background Sun known as Baily's Beads and Diamond Ring. The next eclipse visible in North America will be in 2024.