Amazing Photos of the Sun

Loops of Plasma
Anchored in the photosphere, these coronal loops measure up to 60,000 miles (almost 97,000 km) and can be observed between the lower corona and the transition region of the sun. Flowing along the magnetic field, the arches begin to rise when the plasma heats up and crash down when it cools at more than 60 miles per second (about 97 km/sec). Scientists have recently suggested that they heat the corona to temperatures about 300 times the sun's surface.

• The Hubble Telescope's Greatest Hits