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Solar SnakeA long loop of plasma that had been snaking around the sun erupted on Monday, and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory was on hand to catch the action.Known as a solar filament, the loop is a cloud of relatively cool gas held aloft by magnetic forces. Such features are unstable, though, and often break away from the sun.The pictured filament grew extra long, according to NASA: It spanned almost 621,000 miles (a million kilometers) before snapping.
Image courtesy SDO/NASA

Space Pictures This Week: Sun Snake, Ice Curtain, More

A plasma loop erupts from the sun, Falcon 9 takes flight, Hubble spies a star-spangled "eagle," and more in the week's best space pictures.

December 11, 2010