NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured massive filament across Sun

NASA has recently observed a giant million miles long filament across the Sun, it has been reported. Filaments are clouds of solar material suspended above the sun by powerful magnetic forces. Though notoriously unstable, filaments can last for days or even weeks.

A dark snaking line in the upper right of the images captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory or SDO on Sept. 30, 2014, shows a filament of solar material hovering above the sun's surface. It captured the images in extreme UV light – different colors represent different wavelengths of light and different temperatures of solar material.

NASA's SDO, which watches the sun 24 hours a day, has observed this gigantic filament for several days as it rotated around with the sun. If straightened out, the filament would reach almost across the whole sun, about 1 million miles or 100 times the size of Earth.

SDO captured images of the filament in numerous wavelengths, each of which helps highlight material of different temperatures on the sun. By looking at any solar feature in different wavelengths and temperatures, scientists can learn more about what causes such structures, as well as what catalyzes their occasional giant eruptions out into space.