The ESA/NASA SOHO mission was launched on 2 December 1995. This picture was taken on 1 December 2004 at 20:19 CET on the eve of SOHO's ninth anniversary. It was taken with the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on board SOHO.
EIT can image active regions, filaments and prominences, coronal holes, coronal 'bright points', polar plumes and a variety of other solar features in ultraviolet wavelengths. This image was obtained in wavelengths produced by ionised helium, formed primarily at 60 000 - 80 000 K.