Uploaded August 2012 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This video shows a very nice rising and twisting prominence in 304 wavelength. This channel shows us the upper chromosphere and lower transition region of the Sun at approx. 90,000 F.
A solar prominence (also known as a filament when viewed against the solar disk) is a large, bright feature extending outward from the Sun's surface. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface in the photosphere, and extend outwards into the Sun's hot outer atmosphere, called the corona. A prominence forms over timescales of about a day, and stable prominences may persist in the corona for several months, looping hundreds of thousands of miles into space. Scientists are still researching how and why prominences are formed.
The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas comprised of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. The prominence plasma flows along a tangled and twisted structure of magnetic fields generated by the sun's internal dynamo. An erupting prominence occurs when such a structure becomes unstable and bursts outward, releasing the plasma.
The clip goes from 11:46 UT on Aug. 25 to 5:55 UT on Aug. 26, so about 18 hours with an image cadence of 3 minutes.
There is a lot of rotation within.
Credit: NASA SDO
This video shows a very nice rising and twisting prominence in 304 wavelength. This channel shows us the upper chromosphere and lower transition region of the Sun at approx. 90,000 F.
A solar prominence (also known as a filament when viewed against the solar disk) is a large, bright feature extending outward from the Sun's surface. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface in the photosphere, and extend outwards into the Sun's hot outer atmosphere, called the corona. A prominence forms over timescales of about a day, and stable prominences may persist in the corona for several months, looping hundreds of thousands of miles into space. Scientists are still researching how and why prominences are formed.
The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas comprised of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. The prominence plasma flows along a tangled and twisted structure of magnetic fields generated by the sun's internal dynamo. An erupting prominence occurs when such a structure becomes unstable and bursts outward, releasing the plasma.
The clip goes from 11:46 UT on Aug. 25 to 5:55 UT on Aug. 26, so about 18 hours with an image cadence of 3 minutes.
There is a lot of rotation within.
Credit: NASA SDO
