Russian orbital observatory TESIS, located aboard the CORONAS-PHOTON satellite, has photographed more than 10 protuberances, which were over 10 000 km high and burned for about three days on the Sun’s eastern side.

Protuberances are luminous bodies, formed by incandescent gases, which are usually observed at solar limb. The picture, taken by TESIS shows them as giant tongues of flame, bursting from under the Sun’s surface. The image can be found at NASA’s website under “High Energy Astrophysics Picture of the Week” heading.

TESIS developers, Russian physicists, say that so many protuberances can indicate prolonged minimum of Solar activity. TESIS observatory was launched to monitor the Sun’s activity and space weather, as well as help finding answers for provocative questions of solar physics.