NASA's SDO Spots Half Million Mile Long Whip-like Solar Filament on Sun's Surface

Posted on August 16, 2012

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recently captured footage of a whip-like solar filament extending over half a million miles in a long arc above the sun's surface.

NASA defines filaments as "cooler clouds of solar material that are tethered above the sun's surface by unstable magnetic forces." You can view a larger image of the long filament here.

Take a look:

THE SUN