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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Goddard Space Flight Center

Sun-Earth Day 2009: Our Sun Yours to Discover.

Sun-Earth Day 2009: Our Sun Yours to Discover

IMAGE GALLERY

TRACE
TRACE

TRACE 171Å image, showing emission from gas at 1 million degrees, of Active Region 9077 on 19 July 2000, at 23:30UT. The image (rotated over 90 degrees, so North is to the left) shows a filament in the process of lifting off from the surface of the Sun. The dark matter is relatively cool, around 20,000 degrees, while hot kernels and threads around it are at a million degrees or more. From footpoint to peak, this rapidly evolving structure measures 75,000 miles.

NASA Fact

During a severe solar storm, Earth loses about 100 tons of its atmosphere into space.