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Churning Prominence

Jan. 30, 2017
On Jan. 23-24, 2017, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory watched as a solar prominence rose up along the edge of the sun and twisted and churned for about two days before falling apart. The dynamic action was generated by competing magnetic forces.

A solar prominence rose up along the edge of the sun and twisted and churned for about two days before falling apart (Jan. 23-24, 2017). The dynamic action was generated by competing magnetic forces. The images were taken in a wavelength extreme ultraviolet light that observes activity close to the solar surface, perfect for capturing prominences, which are notoriously unstable clouds of plasma suspended above the sun.

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PIA11237_Churningprom304_big.mp4
PIA11237_Churningprom304_sm.mp4

SDO is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Its Atmosphere Imaging Assembly was built by the Lockheed Martin Solar Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), Palo Alto, California.

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