The solar corona shines bright over the pinnacle of a butte in the Mormon Basin of Malheur County, Oregon, during the total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017. The corona is an extremely hot plasma aura — as much as 450 times the temperature of the sun's surface — that extends millions of miles out from the solar disk that we typically see. The sun's surface is far brighter than the corona, usually outshining it. During a total solar eclipse when the moon blocks the view of the main body of the sun, the corona becomes visible.
{}