Summary:
- Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are eruptions of highly energetic particles from the Sun's surface.
- Solar prominences are the plasma loops that connect two sunspots.
- Prominences can be seen during a total solar eclipse.
- NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was launched on February 11, 2010.
- SDO is studying the Sun’s magnetic field.
- This includes how the Sun affects Earth's atmosphere and climate.
- The craft gathers data faster than anything that ever studied the Sun.