Description: The chromosphere (or "color sphere") of the Sun or other sun-like star is the thin layer in the atmosphere directly above the photosphere, which is the denser layer from which the sunlight or starlight is emitted. During a total eclipse of the Sun, the chromosphere is visible as a faint ring of glowing gases, mostly hydrogen which glows with a red color, hence the name.

Related Terms:

• Corona
• Photosphere
• Stellar Structure

Term and definition status: This term and its definition have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher

The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".