The Solar Corona (2) ...

The following two images were obtained using the coronameter of the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory.

They show the corona twenty-seven days apart (approximately one solar rotation). The following image shows the corona and a sungrazing comet imaged by the LASCO instrument on SOHO. The comet crashed into the Sun shortly afterward.

The Sun lies behind the occulting disk in the center, which was used to block the sunlight so that the corona could be seen clearly. In an eclipse the corona can sometimes be seen out to about 10 solar radii from the ground and as much as 30 solar radii from high altitude. In contrast, a coronagraph can only be used to study the corona near the Sun.