5 Beautiful Photos From Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory

So count on seeing more incredible photos. Heres a false-color composite image from a blast of activity originating from an active sunspot region at the center of the suns disk. The sun erupted with a powerful X1.2-class solar flare earlier this month. (SDO/NASA via AFP) This image shows the conditions of the quiet corona and upper transition region of the Sun in December 2013. (SDO/NASA via AFP) Here we see a magnetic filament of solar material erupting on the sun. The 200,000-mile long filament ripped through the suns atmosphere, the corona, leaving behind what looks like a canyon of fire. The glowing canyon traces the channel where magnetic fields held the filament aloft before the explosion. The sun is not made of fire, but plasma: particles so hot that their electrons have boiled off, creating a charged gas that is interwoven with magnetic fields. (NASA) A solar flare, left, is pictured erupting from the sun. (NASA via Reuters) Matt McFarland is the editor of Innovations.
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