Gary says: This is one of my favorite sites. It's one of the sites I hit first every morning. If the picture of the day is something you want to download, just click on the picture and it will open to the highest definition/biggest size they have available. Many of the pix are copyright, but are not marked on the picture. I try to note that in the notes when I save the ones I like.
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 
Click on the thumbnail to view the picture in full size on the site.
Explanation: It is still not known why the Sun's light is missing some colors. Shown above are all the visible colors of the Sun, produced by passing the Sun's light through a prism-like device. The above spectrum was created at the McMath-Pierce Solar Observatory and shows, first off, that although our yellow-appearing Sun emits light of nearly every color, it does indeed appear brightest in yellow-green light. The dark patches in the above spectrum arise from gas at or above the Sun's surface absorbing sunlight emitted below. Since different types of gas absorb different colors of light, it is possible to determine what gasses compose the Sun. Helium, for example, was first discovered in 1870 on a solar spectrum and only later found here on Earth. Today, the majority of spectral absorption lines have been identified - but not all.
*Thanks, Gary
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