Illustration of the TRACE spacecraft approaching the sun

(CNN) -- NASA released the first images of the sun from a spacecraft called TRACE, short for Transition Region and Coronal Explorer, on Friday. Trace can get more detailed images of the sun than any other probe, and it can take a picture every few seconds.

The images include the first detailed observations of a magnetic energy release called a "magnetic reconnection." Magnetic reconnection occurs when magnetic fields "snap" to a new, lower energy configuration, much like when a twisted rubber band unwinds or breaks.

A magnetic reconnection can release vast amounts of energy, and is responsible for explosive events on the sun, such as flares, that can cause communication and power system disruptions on Earth.

"We found that even large areas of the sun, some more than 60,000 miles long, can heat up or cool down significantly and thus appear and disappear in just a few minutes," said Dr. Alan Title, the TRACE principal investigator from the Stanford Lockheed Institute for Scientific Research in Palo Alto, California.

Scientists are using the spacecraft's images to study how energy travels from the sun's surface to its outer atmosphere.