National Air and Space Museum Image Detail

Sun - July 28, 2010

The wisps of hot plasma protruding off the edge of the Sun are called prominences. The dark lines on the surface of the Sun, called filaments, are physically the same as prominences, only facing towards us on the Sun's disk.

Image Number: WEB11580-2010
Credit: Photo by Erin Braswell, Smithsonian Public Observatory Project
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