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In this image released today, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the magnetic filament of solar material erupting as a 200,000-mile-long filament ripped through the sun's atmosphere, leaving behind what looks like a canyon of fire during its eruption September 29 – 30. The glowing canyon traces the channel where magnetic fields held the filament aloft before the explosion. In reality, the sun is not made of fire, but of something called plasma: particles so hot that their electrons have boiled off, creating a charged gas that is interwoven with magnetic fields. (Photo by NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory)
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