Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Helios Helium

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 20, 1996 is “Helios Helium,” an image. It is credited to Credit: EIT Consortium, SOHO project, ESA, NASA. The original explanation runs about 157 words.

Helios Helium
Credit: EIT Consortium, SOHO project, ESA, NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Above is an image of the relatively quiet Sun made on May 18 in light emitted by ionized Helium atoms in the Solar chromosphere . Helium was first discovered in the Sun in 1868, its name fittingly derived from from the Greek word Helios, meaning Sun.”

— APOD editors, May 20, 1996

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
May 20, 1996
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: EIT Consortium, SOHO project, ESA, NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 157 words

All of May 1996 → · 1996 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The Sun

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: May 20 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.