chromosphere

American  

[kroh-muh-sfeer] / ˈkroʊ məˌsfɪər /

noun

Astronomy.

1. a scarlet, gaseous envelope surrounding the sun outside the photosphere, from which enormous quantities of hydrogen and other gases are erupted.

2. a gaseous envelope surrounding a star.

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chromosphere British  

/ ˈkrəʊməˌsfɪə, ˌkrəʊməˈsfɛrɪk /

noun

1. a gaseous layer of the sun's atmosphere extending from the photosphere to the corona and visible during a total eclipse of the sun

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chromosphere Scientific  

/ krō′mə-sfîr′ /

1. A glowing, transparent layer of gas surrounding the photosphere of a star. The Sun's chromosphere is several thousand kilometers thick, is composed mainly of hydrogen at temperatures of 6,000° to 20,000°K, and gives off reddish light.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• chromospheric
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of chromosphere

First recorded in 1865–70; chromo- + -sphere