Sun Flower | Space Wallpaper

Sun Flower
While this looks like a delicate rose, it's actually a close up of magnetically confined tubes of hot plasma. (Image credit: Copyright Big Bear Solar Obs., NJIT, Alan Friedman (Averted Imagination))

In this October 2014 image the hot plasma fibrils create an illusion of the tender petals of a rose. The active solar region 2177 sent many magnetically confined tubes of plasma stretching out from the Sun. [Learn more about the Sun.]

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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.