The SOHO Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope takes these pictures of the sun every now and then. This is one is on the Fe XII 195A bandwidth.

top...

THE SUN AND US:
       The sun is a star located at the center of our solar system. Although we can see many stars at night, the sun is the only one that we can see during the day. The sun is the biggest object in the solar system, as well as the most important. It's gravity keeps the planets from spinning off in to space.
        The sun is also important for our life on Earth. It provides us with food, wind, weather, and tides. It contributes power for our factories by running windmills and hydropower. The sun also provides us with electricity that is generated by fossil fuels, such as coal, gas, and oil. These fuels are nothing more than stored sunlight. Solar energy does not pollute, is almost free, and will not run out for some five billion years.
        Our bodies are provided with energy from the sun as well. It triggers photosynthesis to occur in green plants. The process traps the sun's energy and turns it in to carbohydrates. By eating these plants, animals convert this energy in to a type they can use. These carbohydrates are passed up the food chain.
       The sun plays an important role in our weather. The sun's rays hit the ground and the warm ground heats the air above. Warm air from the equator moves north and south to the poles, making winds. The sun warms the oceans, and makes water vapor. The vapor rises and forms clouds. When the droplets are large enough, they fall back down to the earth as rain, sleet, snow or hail.

top...

LAYERS OF THE SUN:
       Close up, our sun is not as amiable. Its outer layers are extremely hot, bubbling, and full with explosions. The first layer, the photosphere, looks like the sun's surface. In the photosphere, hot gases rise and cool. These are known as convective cells. Upon reaching the surface, they look like small freckles, known as granules. The temperature of the photosphere is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is much cooler than what is above and below. But it is the photosphere that sends heat and light in to space. These waves travel at 186,300 miles per second, and reach Earth within approximately eight minutes.
       The next layer is the chromosphere. The best time to see this layer is during a total eclipse, which is when the moon blocks the sun's disk. The chromosphere appears as a thin, pink ring around the edge of the sun. The bottom part of the sun's atmosphere is irregular in terms of its shape. Its depth can vary from 1,000 to 10,000 miles. Giant flames, or spicules, make the chromosphere irregular. Spicules are made of hot gases that shoot from the chromosphere in to less dense area. They can extend up to 10,000 miles and travel at 17 miles per second.
       The corona is also best studied during a total eclipse. It appears as a pearl white layer extending out around the sun. The corona is the top layer of the sun's atmosphere. It is made up of very hot, thin gases and stretches more than 1 million miles from the photosphere. Its one million degrees hotter than the sun's surface due to violent explosions from below, such as sunspots, prominences, or solar flares. With these high temperatures, the corona is constantly expanding and changing shape.