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Hinode’s First Light . . . and Five More Years

Vivid orange streamers of super-hot, electrically charged gas (plasma) arc from the surface of the Sun, revealing the structure
Vivid orange streamers of super-hot, electrically charged gas (plasma) arc from the surface of the Sun, revealing the structure of the solar magnetic field rising vertically from a sunspot.

Vivid orange streamers of super-hot, electrically charged gas (plasma) arc from the surface of the Sun, revealing the structure of the solar magnetic field rising vertically from a sunspot. This extremely detailed image of the Sun was taken by Hinode’s Solar Optical Telescope on November 20, 2006 and showed that the Sun’s magnetic field was much more turbulent and dynamic than previously known.

Image credit: Hinode, JAXA/NASA