The Solar Atmosphere Is Much Larger Than Previously Thought

Surrounding the sun is a vast atmosphere of solar particles, through which magnetic fields swarm, solar flares erupt, and gigantic columns of material rise, fall and jostle each other around.  We call it the corona. This corona, is even larger than thought, extending out some 5 million miles above the sun's surface *the equivalent of 12 solar radii), according to data from  NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory. This has implications for NASA's upcoming Solar Probe Plus mission, which is due to launch in 2018 and will go closer to the sun than any man-made technology ever has. read more

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