Ipac_logo
Herschel_spacecraft

Herschel
Space Observatory

An ESA Mission
with Participation from NASA

Nhsc2013-007a

Cool Layer in a Sun-like Star

One of the great curiosities in solar science is that our Suns outer atmosphere the corona is heated to millions of degrees when its visible surface is only about 6000 degrees. Even stranger is a curious temperature minimum of 4000 degrees lying between the two layers, in the chromosphere. Now, using the Herschel space observatory, scientists have made the first discovery of an equivalent cool layer in the atmosphere of the Sun-like star, Alpha Centauri A.

Image Details
Date
February 20, 2013
ID
nhsc2013-007a
Type
Artwork
Credit
ESA
Object Details