That hot mess protruding from the top of our favorite star is known as a "solar prominence," which is a cloud of solar gas held in place above the surface by the sun's magnetic field. This particular prominence -- one of the biggest ever recorded – is categorized as an eruptive prominence, which generally end with a "coronal mass ejection" of hot gas into the solar system.
If this picture has piqued your interest in the science of sun farts, take a gander at the video below to see one in action.
Photo by SOHO-EIT Consortium, the European Space Agency and NASA.
Follow Surge Desk on Twitter.
It Pays To Be A CEO
Kentucky Derby Winner's Trainer SUSPENDED
Spacecraft Making Historic Approach
Facebook Market Makers Lose At Least $100 Million
WATCH: Meghan McCain Admits Republicans Treat Her Like 'A Freak'
Police Announce Arrest In Etan Patz Case
Obama Administration Says 'No' To Global Health Fund For Developing Nations
Arianna Huffington: The Inspirationals: Jeff Skoll, Doubling Down on the Things That Work
Vatican Arrests Suspect In Secret Document Leak Case
Apple Yanks Popular App From iTunes
What Bin Laden's Wives Revealed
Obama: 'Worse Than Joe Arpaio'?
Newt Gingrich: 'Mitt Romney Is A Lot Like Eisenhower'
French President Considers Afghanistan Mission Completed
AWOL Soldier Guilty In 'Justice'-Seeking Bomb Plot
2,500 Arrests And Counting
Egyptian Election Headed To Run-Off Vote
DREAMer Interrupts Mitt Romney During Speech On Education, Escorted Out
Fed Official Essentially Calls For Dimon To Leave New York Fed
Chuck Schumer Hammers Defenders Of Facebook Founder Who Dumped America
SEC Giving Up On Lehman Probe, Likely Won't Recommend Any Action
Greece Euro Exit Looms, Europe Fiddles
Booker Addresses 'Meet The Press' Critics On Twitter
