The extraordinary image of a large sunspot emitting cascades of glowing gas - 11th Apr 2011

Believe it or not, this is a relatively quiet day on the sun.

This amazing image shows a large sunspot group moving across our star's surface.

Visible as the bright area near the horizon is AR 9169, a sunspot group from the last solar cycle.

Even the relatively cool dark regions have temperatures reaching thousands of degrees Celsius.

But the bright glowing gas flowing around the sunspots has a temperature of over one million degrees Celsius.

The reason for the high temperatures is unknown but thought to be related to the rapidly changing magnetic field loops that channel solar plasma.

AR 9169 moved across the sun during September 2000 and decayed in a few weeks.

The image, made available for the first time, was taken by Nada's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) satellite.

The chances of a disruption from space are getting stronger this year because the sun is again entering the most active period of its 11 to 12-year natural cycle. The last solar maximum occurred in 2001. Read More