NASA Photo ID: S74-23458           File Name: 10076406.jpg
Film Type: 4x5                     Date Taken: 06/20/74
Title: Photograph of the Sun, taken during final Skylab mission
Description:
This photograph of the Sun, taken on December 19, 1973 during the third and 
final manned Skylab mission, shows one of the most spectacular solar flares 
ever recorded, spanning more than 588,000 kilometers (365,000 miles) across 
the solar surface. The flare gives the distinct impression of a twisted
sheet  of gas in the process of unwinding itself. In this photograph the
solar poles  are distinguished by a relative absence of supergranulation
network, and a  much darker tone than the central portions of the disk.
Several active  regions are seen on the eastern side of the disk. The
photograph was taken in  the light of ionized helium by the extreme
ultraviolet spectroheliograph  instrument of the U.S. Naval Research
Laboratory.            
Subject terms:
PHOTOGRAPHY                             
SKYLAB 4                                
SKYLAB PROGRAM                          
SOLAR ATMOSPHERE                        
SOLAR FLARES                            
SUN                                     

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