Coronal Loops Over a Sunspot Group

The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument aboard NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) images the solar atmosphere in multiple wavelengths to link changes in the surface to interior changes. Its data includes images of the sun in 10 wavelengths every 10 seconds. When AIA images are sharpened a bit, such as this AIA 171Å channel image, the magnetic field can be readily visualized through the bright, thin strands that are called “coronal loops”. Loops are shown here in a blended overlay with the magnetic field as measured with SDO’s Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager underneath. Blue and yellow represent the opposite polarities of the magnetic field. The combined images were taken on Oct. 24, 2014, at 23:50:37 UT. 

NASA

Venus transit: full resolution details seen in extreme ultraviolet light

The 11 images on this page are cutouts from originals at full resolution (4096 × 4096 pixel), produced by the AIA instrument of the NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory during the transit of Venus on June 5-6. They are arranged as a series of snapshots showing interesting details of the event. In the extreme ultraviolet light at 335 Å captured in these images, the dark disk of Venus appears together with recognizable features of the Sun such as coronal loops, prominences and a large coronal hole.

2012-06-05 22:00:05 UT. This and the following images are courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams