NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Taken by Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope on Nov. 20, 2006, this image reveals the structure of the solar magnetic field rising vertically from a sunspot, an area of strong magnetic field, outward into the solar atmosphere. At the edges of the sunspot the field lines bend over to reconnect with field of opposite polarity.

Image credit: Hinode JAXA/NASA

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