The bright light of a solar flare on the left side of the sun and an eruption of solar material shooting through the sun's atmosphere, called a prominence eruption, are seen in this NASA handout image taken June 20, 2013, at 11:15 p.m. EDT (03:15 GMT). A small NASA telescope was poised for launch on Thursday to attempt to determine how the sun heats up its atmosphere to millions of degrees, sending off rivers of particles that define the boundaries of the solar system. [Photo/Agencies]