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Old 05-22-2002, 03:38 PM   #1
Undertoad
Radical Centrist
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Cottage of Prussia
Posts: 31,423
5/22/2002: Sun gas



As Bruce Willis said on Moonlighting, "What's wrong with small gas leaks? I have 'em all the time!"

But when the sun has a gas leak, it's a remarkable thing. This shot taken by NASA's TRACE spacecraft shows loops of hot, electrified gas rising from the surface of the sun. The loops follow magnetic field lines, and can span a length of 250,000 miles, or about 30 times the diameter of Earth.

30 times. The diameter. Of the Earth.
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