A huge loop of material shooting up from the sun's surface in March was one of the first events witnessed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Known as a prominence eruption, the loop was born from a relatively cold cloud of plasma, or charged gas, tenuously tethered to the sun's surface by magnetic forces. Such clouds can erupt dramatically when they break free of the sun's unstable hold.
Sun Gets in the Loop
Sun Gets in the Loop
The Sun, in Living Color
Sun Making Waves
Crashing Solar Surf
Seismic Sunspot Spotted by SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory)
source: National geographic and Image courtesy NASA
