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Shifting Plasma

May 9, 2017
Strands of plasma at the sun's edge shifted and twisted back and forth over a 22-hour period, May 2-3, 2017. In this close-up from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, the strands are being manipulated by strong magnetic forces associated with active region

Strands of plasma at the sun's edge shifted and twisted back and forth over a 22-hour period (May 2-3, 2017). In this close-up, the strands are being manipulated by strong magnetic forces associated with active regions. This kind of activity is not at all uncommon, but best viewed in profile. The images were taken in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. To give a sense of scale, the strands hover above the sun more than several times the size of Earth.

Movies
PIA21632_ShiftingPlasma_big.mp4
PIA21632_ShiftingPlasma_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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