Loop structures on the Sun's surface are indicative of solar activity. What we are actually observing are electrically charged particles spiraling around elongated magnetic field lines that have emerged from below the Sun and arc back into it, mute testimony to the magnetic forces that control the activity on the Sun's surface. The temperature of the plasma shown is about 1 million K. This image was taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is in extreme ultraviolet at 171 angstroms