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Chromosphere
Layer of a star's atmosphere / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A chromosphere ("sphere of color") is the second layer of a star's atmosphere, located above the photosphere and below the solar transition region and corona. The term usually refers to the Sun's chromosphere, but not exclusively.
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In the Sun's atmosphere, the chromosphere is roughly 3,000 to 5,000 kilometers (1,900 to 3,100 miles) in height, or slightly more than 1% of the Sun's radius at maximum thickness. It possesses a homogeneous layer at the boundary with the photosphere. Hair-like jets of plasma, called spicules, rise from this homogeneous region and through the chromosphere, extending up to 10,000 km (6,200 mi) into the corona above.
The chromosphere has a characteristic red color due to electromagnetic emissions in the Hα spectral line. Information about the chromosphere is primarily obtained by analysis of its emitted electromagnetic radiation.[1] The chromosphere is also visible in the light emitted by ionized calcium, Ca II, in the violet part of the solar spectrum at a wavelength of 393.4 nanometers (the Calcium K-line).[2]
Chromospheres have also been observed on stars other than the Sun.[3] On large stars, chromospheres sometimes make up a significant proportion of the entire star. For example, the chromosphere of supergiant star Antares has been found to be about 2.5 times larger in thickness than the star's radius.[4]