Dynamic Solar Phenomena

Captivating images of the sun, featuring solar flares and prominences, captured by NASA's observatories, illustrating the sun's powerful eruptions.

A large coronal hole appears dark (such as this area in the top part of the Sun) when viewed in extreme ultraviolet light at 284 angstroms, such as this image taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)'s EIT (Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope). Coronal holes are sources of solar wind.

A solar flare erupts on Jan. 30, 2014, as seen by the bright flash on the left side of the sun, captured here by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. In the lower right corner the moon can be seen, having just passed between the observatory and the sun. --- The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 11 11 a.m. EST on Jan. 30, 2014. Images of the flare were captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, shortly after the observatory witnessed a lunar transit. The black disk of the moon can be seen in the lower right of the images. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. To see how this event may impact Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at a href= http //spaceweather.gov rel= nofollow spaceweather.gov /a , th

NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, captured this solar image on March 16, 2015, which clearly shows two dark patches, known as coronal holes. The larger coronal hole of the two, near the southern pole, covers an estimated 6- to 8-percent of the total solar surface. While that may not sound significant, it is one of the largest polar holes scientists have observed in decades. The smaller coronal hole, towards the opposite pole, is long and narrow. It covers about 3.8 billion square miles on the sun - only about 0.16-percent of the solar surface. Coronal holes are lower density and temperature regions of the suns outer atmosphere, known as the corona. Coronal holes can be a source of fast solar wind of solar particles that envelop the Earth. The magnetic field in these regions extends far out into space rather than quickly looping back into the suns surface. Magnetic fields that loop up and back down to the surface can be seen as arcs in non-coronal hole regions of the image, i

A large coronal hole appears dark (such as this area in the top part of the Sun) when viewed in extreme ultraviolet light at 284 angstroms, such as this image taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)'s EIT (Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope). Coronal holes are sources of solar wind.

NASA image captured June 5, 2012. On June 5-6 2012, SDO is collecting images of one of the rarest predictable solar events the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. This event happens in pairs eight years apart that are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will not happen until 2117. i

NASA image acquired May 1, 2010.As an active region rotated into view, it blew out three relatively small eruptions over about two days (Apr. 30 - May 2) as STEREO (Ahead) observed in extreme UV light. The first one was the largest and exhibited a pronounced twisting motion (shown in the still from May 1, 2010). The plasma, not far above the Sun's surface in these images, is ionized Helium heated to about 60,000 degrees. Note, too, the movement of plasma flowing along magnetic field lines that extend out beyond and loop back into the Sun's surface. Such activity occurs every day and is part of the dynamism of the changing Sun.

This image, is a composite of 23 separate images spanning the period of January 11, 2015 to January 21, 2016. It uses the SDO AIA wavelength of 171 angstroms and reveals the zones on the sun where active regions are most common during this part of the solar cycle. There are wallpapers sized for some phones and tablets available to download here a href=

A solar flare bursts off the left limb of the sun in this image captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on June 10, 2014, at 7 41 a.m. EDT. This is classified as an X2.2 flare, shown in a blend of two wavelengths of light 171 and 131 angstroms, colorized in gold and red, respectively.

On Aug. 24, 2014, the sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 8 16 a.m. EDT. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the flare, which erupted on the left side of the sun. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. To see how this event may affect Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at a href= http //spaceweather.gov rel= nofollow spaceweather.gov /a , the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings. This flare is classified as an M5 flare. M-class flares are ten times less powerful than the most intense flares, called X-class flares.

The dark region seen on the face of the sun at the end of March 2013 is a coronal hole (just above and to the right of the middle of the picture), which is a source of fast solar wind leaving the sun in this image from NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a mid-level solar flare - as seen in the bright flash in the middle -on Dec. 16, 2014 shortly before midnight EST. Read more a href= http //1.usa.gov/1BYLxsE rel= nofollow 1.usa.gov/1BYLxsE /a

Caption This image from June 20, 2013, at 11 15 p.m. EDT shows the bright light of a solar flare on the left side of the sun and an eruption of solar material shooting through the suns atmosphere, called a prominence eruption. Shortly thereafter, this same region of the sun sent a coronal mass ejection out into space. --- On June 20, 2013, at 11 24 p.m., the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later. These particles cannot travel through the atmosphere to harm humans on Earth, but they can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from NASAs Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory and ESA/NASAs Solar and Heliospheric Observatory show that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 1350 miles per second, which is a fast speed for CMEs. Earth-directed CMEs can cause a space

The Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft Ahead observed in the 304 Angstrom wavelength an eruptive solar prominence on the edge of the Sun using its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI).

Extreme ultraviolet light streams out of an X-class solar flare as seen in this image captured on March 29, 2014, by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. This image blends two wavelengths of light 304 and 171 Angstroms, which help scientists observe the lower levels of the sun's atmosphere. More info The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 1 48 p.m. EDT March 29, 2014, and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. To see how this event impacted Earth, please visit NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center at a href= http //spaceweather.gov rel= nofollow spaceweather.gov /a , the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches and warnings. This f

A giant arch of plasma rose up out of the Sun and then stretched itself until it had reached back to a point behind our view of the Sun (Sept, 17-18, 2014). Since it emerged from a magnetically intense active region, the arch is likely connecting to another active region over the Sun's horizon. We rarely see material extend this distance. The images were observed in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength of 171 Angstroms.

The Sun sported a very long filament that stretched out over 500,000 miles (800,000 km) and was visible for several days (June 3-4, 2014). It broke apart and dissipated soon after the end of the video clip. Filaments are tenuous strands of plasma held above the Sun's surface by magnetic forces. They appear darker because their temperature is somewhat cooler than that of the Sun's surface. The still image, shown in a combination of two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, was taken at 11 33 UT on June 4.

Caption An X-class solar flare erupted on the left side of the sun on the evening of Feb. 24, 2014. This composite image, captured at 7 59 p.m. EST, shows the sun in X-ray light with wavelengths of both 131 and 171 angstroms.

NASA image captured December 6, 2010 To view a video of this event go here a href= http //www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5258354738 www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5258354738 /a A very long solar filament that had been snaking around the Sun erupted (Dec. 6, 2010) with a flourish. STEREO (Behind) caught the action in dramatic detail in extreme ultraviolet light of Helium. It had been almost a million km long (about half a solar radius) and a prominent feature on the Sun visible over two weeks earlier before it rotated out of view. Filaments, elongated clouds of cooler gases suspended above the Sun by magnetic forces, are rather unstable and often break away from the Sun.

November 1-2, 2011 - One large and two good-sized, energetic active regions are rotating into view. The magnetic connection between the upper two areas clearly begin to reach over and interact with each other. Above them, the magnetic field lines, made visible in extreme ultraviolet light by particles spiraling along them, rise out and loop back to the Sun, constantly changing their structures. As these regions rotate towards the center of the Sun, any solar storms they generate could produce ef

An instrument on our Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured its 100 millionth image of the sun. The instrument is the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, or AIA, which uses four telescopes working parallel to gather eight images of the sun - cycling through 10 different wavelengths -- every 12 seconds. This is a processed image of SDO multiwavelength blend from Jan. 19, 2015, the date of the spacecraft's 100th millionth image release.

Arches of magnetic field lines towered over the suns edge as a pair of active regions began to rotate into view in this video captured by NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory on April 5-6, 2016. Active regions are areas of very concentrated magnetic field. Charged particles spiraling along these magnetic fields emit extreme ultraviolet light, which is typically not visible to our eyes, but colorized here in gold. The light given off from the particles helps trace out the magnetic field lines, which are otherwise invisible. Scientists use images such as this to observe how magnetic fields move around the sun and learn more about what causes active regions.

Solar Dynamics Observatory Captures Images of Lunar Transit 2012

Image of the sun, the largest star in our solar system.

Flaring, active regions of our sun are highlighted in this image combining observations from several telescopes. During the observations, microflares went off, which are smaller versions of the larger flares that also erupt from the sun's surface.

This LASCO C2 image, taken 8 January 2002, shows a widely spreading coronal mass ejection (CME) as it blasts more than a billion tons of matter out into space at millions of kilometers per hour. The C2 image was turned 90 degrees so that the blast seems to be pointing down. An EIT 304 Angstrom image from a different day was enlarged and superimposed on the C2 image so that it filled the occulting disk for effect.

first light image from the three state-of-the art instruments on NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) 2010 Two of the SDO instruments were built at the Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory of the Lockheed Martin NYSE: LMT Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) in Palo Alto. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), a suite of four telescopes, provides an unprecedented view of the solar corona, taking images that span at least 1.3 solar diameters in multiple wavelengths nearly simultaneously, at a resolution of 0.6 arc-seconds and at a cadence of 10 seconds or better. The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI

A view from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) at two different extreme ultraviolet wavelengths (286 angstroms and 304 angstroms) created this view of the Sun.

Giant, bright coronal loops trace out the magnetic field lines above an active region from June 4-6, 2018. The wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light shown here is emitted by ionized iron travelling along the field lines, super-heated to approximately 1 million degrees K. Coronal loops were not seen in this level of detail until the Solar Dynamics Observatory was launched in 2010 and came online, giving solar scientists new data with which to study the Sun and its processes. Videos are available at

NASA image release Sept 9, 2010Just as sunspot 1105 was turning away from Earth on Sept. 8, the active region erupted, producing a solar flare and a fantastic prominence. The eruption also hurled a bright coronal mass ejection into space. The eruption was not directed toward any planets.View the video here: www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4974878090This is a snapshot of the prominence.

Solar material repeatedly bursts from the sun in this close-up captured on July 9-10, 2016, by NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO. The sun is composed of plasma, a gas in which the negative electrons move freely around the positive ions, forming a powerful mix of charged particles. Each burst of plasma licks out from the surface only to withdraw back into the active region - a dance commanded by complex magnetic forces above the sun. SDO captured this video in wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, which are typically invisible to our eyes. The imagery is colorized here in red for easy viewing.

Corona and Transition region clearly visible from a satellite orbiting earth. A full-disk multiwavelength extreme ultraviolet image of the sun taken in 2010. False colors trace different gas temperatures. Reds are relatively cool (about 60,000 Kelvin, or 107,540 F); blues and greens are hotter (greater than 1 million Kelvin, or 1,799,540 F).

An unusual, long, and clearly defined magnetic loop as seen by Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) at 171 angstroms seems to link two active regions of the Sun. The other region seems to be over the limb of the Sun, giving the loop an estimated length of 300,000 miles.

Numerous arches of magnetic field lines danced and swayed above a large active region over about a 30-hour period (July 17-18, 2017). We can also see the magnetic field lines from the large active region reached out and connected with a smaller active region. Those linked lines then strengthened (become brighter), but soon began to develop a kink in them and rather swiftly faded from view. All of this activity is driven by strong magnetic forces associated with the active regions. The images were taken in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light.

A bright solar prominence rose up from the Sun and twisted around in about a six-hour period (Apr. 21, 2015). While some of the material broke away into space, much of it fell back into the Sun. The images were taken in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. At its greatest height, the plume extended out many times the size of Earth, allowing numerous amateur astronomers to observe this event with their solar telescopes.

The Sun blew out a coronal mass ejection along with part of a solar filament over a three-hour period (Feb. 24, 2015). While some of the strands fell back into the Sun, a substantial part raced into space in a bright cloud of particles (as observed by the SOHO spacecraft). The activity was captured in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. Because this occurred way over near the edge of the Sun, it was unlikely to have any effect on Earth.

The magnetic field lines between a pair of active regions formed a beautiful set of swaying arches, seen in this footage captured by NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory on April 24-26, 2017. The arches are traced out by charged particles spinning along the magnetic field lines. These arches, which form a connection between regions of opposite magnetic polarity, are visible in exquisite detail in this wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. Extreme ultraviolet light is typically invisible to our eyes, but is colorized here in gold.

A beautiful prominence eruption shot off the east limb (left side) of the sun on Monday, April 16, 2012. Such eruptions are often associated with solar flares, and in this case an M1 class (medium-sized) flare did occur at the same time, though it was not aimed toward Earth. This event, which is still in progress, was seen by NASAs SDO satellite.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observed a solar prominence gathering itself into a twisting cone, then rose up and broke apart in a delicate dance of plasma above the sun on Feb. 20, 2017.

Sunspot with streamers of super-hot, electrically charged gas (plasma) arc from the surface of the Sun, revealing the structure of the solar magnetic field. Credit NASA.

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) observed a huge eruptive prominence arching out from the Sun. It was captured it in extreme ultraviolet light (ionized helium at 304 angstroms) and formed a loop that extended forty times the diameter of Earth.

A detail view of a filament launch in the SDO AIA 304 band.

As a pair of active regions began to rotate into view, their towering magnetic field lines above them bloomed into a dazzling display of twisting arches (Oct. 27-28, 2015) in this image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

A prominence at the sun's edge shifted and slithered back and forth over a one-day period (Nov. 29-30, 2017). Prominences are strands of charged particles suspended above the sun's surface that are pulled and tugged by magnetic forces. This kind of close-up also shows the kind of dynamic activity taking place all over the sun's surface. The bright area further down from the prominence is an active region, an area of intense tangles of magnetic forces. Towards the end of the clip, it blasts out a small stream of plasma (captured in the still). The images were taken in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. Movies are available at

Three distinct active regions with towering arches above them rotated into view over a three-day period (Sept. 24-26, 2017). In extreme ultraviolet light, charged particles that are spinning along the ever-changing magnetic field lines above the active regions make the lines visible. To give some sense of scale, the largest arches rose up many times the size of Earth. Movies are available at

corona and upper transition region of the Sun.

With no active regions currently on the face of the sun, a bristling active region has begun to rotate into view (Mar. 27-28, 2018). In this extreme ultraviolet view, the active region has numerous arches of bright, magnetic field lines blossoming out and towering above it. Whether this region will produce solar storms remains to be seen, but at least there is some new activity to observe. The video was produced with Helioviewer software. Animations are available at

A second X-class flare of June 10, 2014, appears as a bright flash on the left side of this image from NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory. This image shows light in the 193-angstrom wavelength, which is typically colorized in yellow. It was captured at 8 55 a.m EDT, just after the flare peaked.

Strands and arches of plasma streamed above the edge of the Sun for over a day, pulled by powerful magnetic forces Aug. 11-12, 2016., observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Image of the Moon transiting across the Sun, taken by SDO in 304 angstrom extreme ultraviolet light on August 21, 2017.

This spectacular view is a color-enhanced ultraviolet exposure of a colossal eruption, photographed during the Skylab-4 mission by the Apollo Telescope Mount facility on December 19, 1973. This giant prominence, one of the mightiest in 25 years, sparned a third of a million miles into space, roughly the distance between Earth and the Moon.

This close-up video clip shows a pair of active regions (the brighter areas) move and change as they rotate with the sun over just a 17-hour period (Oct. 4-5, 2017). They were observed in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light that reveals plasma heated to over a million degrees. The arches above the regions consist of charge particles spinning along and revealing magnetic field lines. Each one shows a few minor bursts of material none of them were serious. Animations are available at

A flare medium-sized (M2) flare and a coronal mass ejection erupted from the same, large active region (July 14, 2017). The flare lasted almost two hours, quite a long duration. Coronagraphs on the SOHO spacecraft show a substantial cloud of charged particles blasting into space just after the blast. The coils arcing over this active region are particles spiraling along magnetic field lines, which were reorganizing themselves after the magnetic field was disrupted by the blast. Images were taken in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. Movies are available at

NASA image captured June 5, 2012. On June 5-6 2012, SDO is collecting images of one of the rarest predictable solar events the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. This event happens in pairs eight years apart that are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will not happen until 2117. i

Photograph of Solar material in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space. Dated 2012

A mass of plasma gathered itself into a twisting mass, spun around for a bit, then rose up and broke apart over a 10-hour period (Oct. 13, 2015) as observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

NASA image captured June 5, 2012. On June 5-6 2012, SDO is collecting images of one of the rarest predictable solar events the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. This event happens in pairs eight years apart that are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will not happen until 2117. i

A beautiful prominence eruption shot off the east limb (left side) of the sun on Monday, April 16, 2012. Such eruptions are often associated with solar flares, and in this case an M1 class (medium-sized) flare did occur at the same time, though it was not aimed toward Earth. This event, which is still in progress, was seen by NASAs SDO satellite. b View a video of this event here a href= http //www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/7084820027 www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/7084820027 /a /b

Sunspot and Solar Flare in Ultraviolet Light

NASA image captured June 6, 2012. On June 5-6 2012, SDO is collecting images of one of the rarest predictable solar events the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. This event happens in pairs eight years apart that are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will not happen until 2117. i

NASA image release Sept 9, 2010 Just as sunspot 1105 was turning away from Earth on Sept. 8, the active region erupted, producing a solar flare and a fantastic prominence. The eruption also hurled a bright coronal mass ejection into space. The eruption was not directed toward any planets. View the video here a href= http //www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4974878090 www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4974878090 /a To see a full disk view go here a href= http //www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4975115754/ www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4975115754/ /a This is a snapshot of the prominence.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an elongated coronal hole rotated across the face of the sun this past week so that it is now streaming solar wind towards Earth (Jan. 2-5, 2017).

A detail view of a filament launch in the SDO AIA 304 band.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of an M9-class flare on Oct 20, 2012 at 2 14 p.m. EDT. This image shows light at a wavelength of 131 Angstroms, which corresponds to material at 10 million Kelvin, and is a good wavelength for observing flares. This wavelength is typically colorized as teal, as shown here. To read more go to a href= http //www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/News102012-m9flare.html rel= nofollow www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/News102012-m9fla... /a

NASA image captured June 5, 2012. On June 5-6 2012, SDO is collecting images of one of the rarest predictable solar events the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. This event happens in pairs eight years apart that are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will not happen until 2117. i

NASA image captured April 2, 2011 Twice a year, SDO enters an eclipse season where the spacecraft slips behind Earth for up to 72 minutes a day. Unlike the crisp shadow one sees on the sun during a lunar eclipse, Earth's shadow has a variegated edge due to its atmosphere, which blocks the sun light to different degrees depending on its density. Also, light from brighter spots on the sun may make it through, which is why some solar features extend low into Earth's shadow.

Satellite view of solar flares

This close-up from a video clip taken May 30-June 1, 2018 shows a large active region in extreme ultraviolet light as the bright magnetic field lines above it shift and twist. Note the Earth scale below the active region the longest loops extend about 10 times the diameter of Earth. When the magnetic field lines get themselves tangled up enough, they can erupt with a solar storm. Videos are available at

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of the moon crossing in front of its view of the sun on Jan. 30, 2014, at 9 00 a.m. EST. -- On Jan 30, 2014, beginning at 8 31 a.m EST, the moon moved between NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, and the sun, giving the observatory a view of a partial solar eclipse from space. Such a lunar transit happens two to three times each year. This one lasted two and one half hours, which is the longest ever recorded. When the next one will occur is as of yet unknown due to planned adjustments in SDO's orbit. Note in the picture how crisp the horizon is on the moon, a reflection of the fact that the moon has no atmosphere around it to distort the light from the sun.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of the moon crossing in front of its view of the sun on Jan. 30, 2014, at 10 30 a.m. EST in 171 and 304 angstrom light. The two wavelengths are blended together.

The sun featured just one, rather small active region over the past few days, but it developed rapidly and sported a lot of magnetic activity in just one day (Apr. 11-12, 2018). The activity was observed in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. The loops and twisting arches above it are evidence of magnetic forces tangling with each other. The video clip was produced using Helioviewer software. Movies are available at

An eruption of solar material exploding up off the surface of the right side of the sun, 2012

The sun emitted a trio of mid-level solar flares on April 2-3, 2017. The first peaked at 4 02 a.m. EDT on April 2, the second peaked at 4 33 p.m. EDT on April 2, and the third peaked at 10 29 a.m. EDT on April 3. NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured images of the three events. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however — when intense enough — they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel. Learn more a href=

A three-dimensional image of the Sun. STEREO. This image is a composite of left and right eye color image pairs taken by the SECCHI Extreme UltraViolet Imager.

Solar activity and erupting prominences. EIT 304A (Jan. 8-10, 2000)

Sun star surface with solar flares, burning of sun animation 3D rendering

A three-dimensional image of the Sun. STEREO. This image is a composite of left and right eye color image pairs taken by the SECCHI Extreme UltraViolet Imager.

This side-by-side rendering of the Sun at the same time in two different wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light helps to visualize the differing features visible in each wavelength (Dec. 10-11, 2015). This image is from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

On May 9, 2016, Mercury passed directly between the Sun and Earth, making a transit of the Sun. Mercury transits happen about 13 times each century. NASA's SDO studies the Sun 24/7 and captured the eight-hour event.

In a blue extreme ultraviolet image of the Sun (ionized iron at 171 angstroms), two large active regions, one in the center, and another on the right limb, display large loops of charged plasma spanning large distances. The first center region stretches 300,000 miles.

Explanation In this picture, the Sun's surface is quite dark. A frame from a movie recorded on November 9th by the orbiting TRACE telescope, it shows coronal loops lofted over a solar active region. Glowing brightly in extreme ultraviolet light, the hot plasma entrained above the Sun along arching magnetic fields is cooling and raining back down on the solar surface. Hours earlier, on November 8th, astronomers had watched this particular active region produce a not so spectacular solar flare. Still, the M-class flare spewed forth an intense storm of particles, suddenly showering satellites near the Earth with high energy protons. The flare event was also associated with a large coronal mass ejection, a massive cloud of material which impacted our fair planet's magnetic field about 31 hours later. The result ... a strong geomagnetic storm.

NASA image captured April 3, 2011 Twice a year, SDO enters an eclipse season where the spacecraft slips behind Earth for up to 72 minutes a day. Unlike the crisp shadow one sees on the sun during a lunar eclipse, Earth's shadow has a variegated edge due to its atmosphere, which blocks the sun light to different degrees depending on its density. Also, light from brighter spots on the sun may make it through, which is why some solar features extend low into Earth's shadow.

On Jan. 20, 2017, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a small area of the sun highlighted three active region. Over half a day this active region sent dark swirls of plasma and bright magnetic arches twisting and turning above it.

Ultraviolet exposure of colossal eruption on the Sun. This solar prominence, one of the largest in 25 years, erupted over 300,000 miles into space. The image is color-enhanced was photographed during the Skylab-4 mission by the Apollo Telescope. December 19, 1973.

Helle Sonne brennt mit Plasma und Fackeln im Raum. Sonneneruptionsplatz und magnetische Stürme, Konzept *** bright Sun burns with Plasma and Torches at Room Solar flare site and Magnetic Storms, Concept 1102801995

IBIS can focus in on different wavelengths of light, and so reveal different layers at different heights in the sun's lower atmosphere, the chromosphere. This image shows a region slightly higher than the former one.

Three substantial coronal holes rotated across the face of the Sun the week of Sept. 8-10, 2015 as seen by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Coronal holes are areas where the Sun's magnetic field is open and a source of streaming solar wind.

Dec. 21, 2012 was not the end of the world, contrary to some of the common beliefs out there. NASA's SDO satellite captured this image of the SUN on 12-22-12 at 00 14 UTC as the time rolled over into the new day.

Dark strands of plasma hovering above the sun's surface began to interact with each other in a form of tug of war over two and a half days on June 28-30, 2015. At times, strands of plasma extended a tenuous connection between one area and the other. Twice the small tower of plasma to the lower left shot a burst of energy over to the quivering filament higher up. We are seeing the push and pull of magnetic forces revealed in a 193 wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, typically colorized in brown.

A long-lasting coronal hole has again rotated around to face the Earth (Nov. 28-30, 2018). This persistent hole - the elongated dark region seen in the still image - first appeared in July and has been observed each rotation of the Sun since. Coronal holes are the source of high-speed solar wind; when this one faced Earth, it sparked outbursts of aurora some of which were observed in our northern tier states. Coronal holes are magnetically open regions on the Sun that can last from days to months, although this one has lasted longer than most. The time-lapse video, taken in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, covers about two days of activity. Movies available at

sun with International Space Station An illustration of our sun with International Space Station Copyright: xZoonar.com/magannx 15918627

A three-dimensional image of the Sun. STEREO.

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