chromosphere

Astronomy a gaseous layer of the sun's atmosphere extending from the photosphere to the corona and visible during a total eclipse of the sun

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

chromosphere

In the solar chromosphere the temperature rises over a few thousand kilometers from about 4000 K at the temperature minimum to around 50 000 K at the transition region (see Sun). The rise in temperature (which continues in the transition region and inner corona) was once thought to be the result of ascending shock waves, but this mechanism does not tally with detailed observations of the coronae of the Sun and other stars. It is now believed that magnetic heating is responsible (see corona).

The solar chromosphere is visible under natural circumstances only when the photosphere is totally eclipsed by the Moon (see eclipse). It is then seen in profile at the Sun's limb. It may, however, be observed at times other than totality with the aid of a spectroheliograph/spectrohelioscope or a telescope equipped with a suitable narrow-band interference filter. See also chromospheric network; flash spectrum; spicules.

Chromospheres of other stars are studied by observing their strong ultraviolet emission lines or the narrow optical emission lines seen in the center of their photospheric broad absorption lines. In many stars of similar spectral type to the Sun, the chromospheric emission changes with a period of several years, indicating the presence of a cycle of activity akin to the solar cycle (see sunspot cycle). Chromospheric brightness is related to speed of rotation, being greater for stars that rotate rapidly (either because they are young or because of the effect of a companion – see RS Canum Venaticorum star).

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

chromosphere

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.