From the article:
Another surprise sighting is that of giant magnetic field loops crashing down onto the Sun's surface as if they were collapsing from exhaustion, a finding that Golub describes as "impossible". Previously, scientists thought they should emerge from the Sun and continue blowing out into space.
"Almost every day, we look at the data and we say – what the heck was that?" says Golub, a member of the XRT science team.
Astronomers do not yet know what to make of the surprises, but they hope Hinode will help solve many big puzzles. One is that the temperature of the Sun's tenuous outermost atmosphere, or corona, is far hotter than the layers underneath, which are nearer its energy-generating core
Awesome, awesome stuff. Nothing gets my juices flowing like space exploration (well, maybe deep-sea exploration too). Every time I hear a scientist say something like "impossible" or "What the heck was that?" I get a little shiver because there is SO MUCH we just don't know. Thanks for the link, Randall!
Also, be sure to check out the
video linked in the article (warning: direct link to relatively large .mov file). Beautiful!
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