Our Sun frequently erupts in loops.
Hot solar
plasma jumps off the Sun's surface into
prominences,
with the most common type of prominence being a simple loop.
The
loop shape originates from the
Sun's magnetic field,
which is traced by spiraling electrons and protons.
Many loops into the Sun's lower
corona
are large enough to
envelop the Earth
and are stable enough to last days.
They commonly occur near active regions that also include dark
sunspots.
The
featured panel shows four loops,
each of which was captured near the
Sun's
edge during 2024 and 2025.
The images were taken by a personal telescope in
Mantova,
Italy and in a
very specific color of light emitted primarily by
hydrogen.
Some solar prominences
suddenly break open and
eject particles into the
Solar System, setting up a
space weather sequence that can affect the
skies and
wires of Earth.