the filament was more than 250,000 miles long, about 30 times the diameter of the Earth. In this new image, taken at 9:30 am PST on Dec. 6, the loop of charged plasma stretches more than 435,000 miles, the full radius of the sun itself.

So far the gigantic prominence has hung suspended peacefully above the sun’s surface, but this morning it started showing signs of instability. Long filaments like this one can break apart as coronal mass ejections, releasing tons of hot, charged material into the inner solar system and potentially causing magnetic storms on Earth. If the filament collapses in the next day or so, the results could be spectacular.

This prominence is an excellent target for backyard telescopes with ultraviolet filters. If you capture any great sun photos in the next few days, let us know.

Image: NASA/SDO

See Also:

• The Making of a Mind-Blowing DIY Sun Photo
• Photo: The Sun Gets Its Spots (Back)
• Photo: Space Shuttle Crosses the Sun
• NASA Spacecraft Error Makes Sun’s Image Look Like Jupiter
• Video: The Butterfly Effect on the Sun’s Surface

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Authors: Lisa Grossman

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