Number 463 (Story #2), December 22, 1999 by Phillip F. Schewe and Ben Stein SPONGELIKE STRUCTURES NEAR THE SUN'S SURFACE, newly observed by the TRACE satellite (at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths) and the SOHO satellite (in x rays), lie between the 10,000-K chromosphere and the corona at a temperature of several million K. These filamentary structures (dubbed "solar moss" by Lockheed scientists reporting at the AGU meeting) are typically 6000-12,000 miles in size and about 1000-1500 miles above the photosphere, occur at various places around the sun's surface, usually near the footprint of huge coronal loops. The moss blobs seem to be stable for hours but can also change brightness over periods as short as 30 seconds. Thomas Berger of Lockheed said that the new structures may provide information on how the corona gets so hot, an issue that remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of solar physics.