RELEASE NO: 97-143P

SOLAR CORONA IMAGE: This image was taken from Mauna Kea, Hawaii during a total solar eclipse in 1991 by the High Altitude Observatory group of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The black disk is the moon, and the pink, feathery extensions are the solar corona. The corona is a region of hot, electrically charged gas streaming from the surface of the Sun. The average temperature of this gas is approximately 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit, and its furthest extension here is about 1 million miles from the surface. The extreme temperature of the corona has been a long standing astronomical mystery, since the solar surface is a relatively cool 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit. If the corona was at this much lower temperature, it would be held very close to the solar surface and, hence, would not be visible at all from the Earth. (Photo Credit: High Altitude Observatory/National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo.)

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PHOTO CREDIT: NASA, or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

No copyright protection is asserted for this photograph. If a recognizable person appears in this photograph, use for commercial purposes may infringe a right of privacy or publicity. It may not be used to state or imply the endorsement by NASA or by any NASA employees of a commercial product, process or service, or used in any other manner that might mislead. Accordingly it is requested that if this photo is used in advertising, and other commercial promotion, layout and copy be submitted to NASA prior to release.