Solar LoopsHuge loops of plasma—superheated, charged gas—rise from an active region on the sun in a newly released picture from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Each loop is as tall as several Earths stacked on top of each other.The plasma loops trace the sun's otherwise invisible magnetic field lines, which rise from the star's magnetically active regions—the starting points for huge eruptions of radiation known as solar flares.(Also see "Aurora Pictures: Solar Storms Trigger Northern Lights.")
Image courtesy SDO/NASA

Space Pictures This Week: Sun Loops, Blue Marble, More

Plasma arcs over the sun, Earth shines in high resolution, a colorful halo surrounds the moon, and more in the week's best space pictures.

January 28, 2012