An active region viewed in profile put on quite a show of erupting plasma and looping arches on Sept. 22-23, 2015. The loops, seen above the sun’s surface on the right, are light emissions from charged particles spinning along magnetic field lines that dance through the sun's atmosphere.
An active region viewed in profile put on quite a show of erupting plasma and looping arches on Sept. 22-23, 2015. The loops, seen above the sun’s surface on the right, are light emissions from charged particles spinning along magnetic field lines that dance through the sun’s atmosphere. The region, which appeared as a sunspot group in visible light, was observed here in two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light over a period of about 40 hours. Though invisible to our eyes, light emissions in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength of 171 Angstroms are typically colorized in gold, while emissions in 304 angstroms are colorized in red.
Credit: NASA/SDO