http://www.newsweek.com/enormous-solar-prominence-surface-sun-recorded-nasa-1201299

NASA has captured a huge solar prominence bursting from the surface of the Sun. The prominence was recorded by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite on October 25. It stretched out roughly 80,000 miles. The space agency noted it was “about ten times the diameter of Earth,” which is just over 7,900 miles. 

A solar prominence is a largely unexplained phenomenon—scientists do not know exactly how and why they form. They are seen bursting from the Sun’s surface into the corona, the aura of plasma surrounding our star. They are tethered to the photosphere, which is the outer shell of the Sun and the part that radiates light and heat.