Often, arcs of hot plasma loft above the surface of the sun. These are called prominences. The large ones can actually break and seem to leap off into space.

And the very biggest ones—usually associated with large sunspots—can throw millions of tons of electrically charged matter into the cosmos, sometimes aimed right at Earth!

They're spawned by the turbulent magnetic field of the sun. Because the sun rotates faster around the equator than at the poles, its magnetic field lines twist and wrap, producing loops through the photosphere. Hot gas follows the loops and forms the arcing prominences. Sun flares occur where the magnetic loops meet.