Sun Dance

Sun Dance

Video Credit:
NASA,
SDO;
Processing: Alan Watson via
Helioviewer

Explanation:
Sometimes, the surface of our Sun seems to dance.

In the middle of 2012, for example, NASA’s Sun-orbiting
Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft imaged an
impressive prominence
that seemed to perform a
running dive roll like an acrobatic dancer.

The dramatic explosion was
captured in
ultraviolet light in the
featured time-lapse video covering about three hours.

A looping magnetic field directed the flow of hot
plasma on the
Sun.

The scale of the
dancing prominence is huge — the entire
Earth would easily fit under the flowing
arch of hot gas.

A quiescent prominence typically lasts about a month and may erupt in a
Coronal Mass Ejection (CME),
expelling hot gas into the
Solar System.

The energy mechanism that creates a
solar prominence is still a topic of
research.

Like in 2012, this year the Sun’s surface is again
quite active and features many
filaments and prominences.