Description
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) observes two relatively small prominences above the Sun's surface twisted and streamed charged particles over a 20-hour period (July 30-31, 2018), shown here in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. Prominences are large, bright features anchored to the Sun's photosphere but extending outward into its hot outer atmosphere, called the corona. Scientists are still researching how and why prominences are formed.
Movies
PIA22661_TwistingProminences_big.mp4
PIA22661_TwistingProminences_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.
