National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Goddard Space Flight Center
Sun-Earth Day 2009: Our Sun Yours to Discover
IMAGE GALLERY
- 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 single second, the sun converts 4 million tons of matter into pure energy.