PV Gap

Roy Said:

What is a light year? What is diff. between a solar flare and solar prominence?

We Answered:

I takes 8 minutes for light from the Sun to reach the Earth, so that's 8 light minutes. Yes, 60 light minutes is a light hour, 24 light hours is a light day, and 365.24 light days is a light year - how far light travels in one year. The star Vega is about 4 light years away from Earth, so we're seeing Vega now as it looked 4 years ago - like it sent us a postcard that took a long time to get here.

Yep. Photons produced in the core of the Sun take about a million years to reach the surface of the Sun. It's so dense in the core that they keep 'bouncing off' electrons (really, actually, being absorbed and re-emitted, but it's essentially the same photon). Photons are light particles - little packets of light.

A solar prominence is a loop of plasma on the Sun. Plasma is the fourth state of matter, and is a super-heated, conducting gas. On the Sun, since plasma is conducting, it often follows the magnetic field lines, tracing out the field of the Sun. Prominences are large loops in the magnetic field. Sometimes they can seperate from the Sun, and head out into space - and then they become solar flares. But they have to leave the Sun to become a flare.

It can take the flares a few days to reach the Earth, if they are headed that way, since they are made of plasma (matter), not light. When they do reach us, they cause the Aurora - the Northern Lights. You can see some cool pictures of it here http://www.spaceweather.com or find a 'real-time' map of the areas of the globe experience aurora here http://www.sel.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html. The dark orange parts - like Northern Russia right now - are getting a great show.

Victor Said:

I broke my clients solar light ?i need good phrase?

We Answered:

I would still tell him. It will show him that you are an honest person who takes responsibility for your mistakes. It will build trust between you and your client. I'm sure that he will think higher of you for it.