Hinode’s Amazing New Images of the Sun’s Surface

NASA released some absolutely amazing new images of the surface of the Sun today, taken by the Japanese Hinode spacecraft. Just look at the attached image with this story, and you’ll get a sense of why astronomers think this spacecraft will do for solar astronomy what Hubble has done for the visual spectrum.

For the first time, astronomers are able to see how tiny granules of hot gas rise and fall, caught up in the Sun’s magnetic atmosphere. They’re able to watch how magnetic variations start out, and then spread across the surface.

The photograph is beautiful, but the part that will really blow your mind is the video.

Original Source: NASA News Release