The sun’s atmosphere dances. Giant columns of solar material – made of gas so hot that many of the electrons have been scorched off the atoms, turning it into a form of magnetized matter we call plasma – leap off the sun’s surface, jumping and twisting. Sometimes these prominences of solar material, shoot off, escaping completely into space, other times they fall back down under their own weight.
This information is related to the NASA Explorer Schools lesson, Geometry: Space Math Problems—Solar Storms. To gain access to this lesson, log into the NES Virtual Campus.
To read more about the sun’s coronal cavities, visit the news page.