India, July 7 -- A new breakthrough from astronomers reveals a dazzling world of miniatureplasma loops in thelower layers of the Sun's atmosphere. These are so small and short-lived, that they have stayed hidden until now. However, they hold clues to one of the Sun's deepest mysteries -how it stores and unleashes magnetic energy.

While the Sun may appear calm to our eyes,beyondtheglowing surface of the Sun lies a much less dense yet highly dynamic atmosphere madeofplasma and shaped by magnetic fields.

Among the most intriguing features of the Sun's outer layer are coronal loops, arc-like beautiful structures of hot plasma that glow at a temperature over a million degrees.

While these large loops in the solar corona, or outer atmosphere...