PIA18167: Magnificent Outburst
 Target Name:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  SDO
 Instrument:  Atmosphere Imaging Assembly
 Product Size:  691 x 720 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  SDO
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA18167.tif (1.493 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA18167.jpg (66.48 kB)

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Sparked by a medium-sized (C-class) flare, a long, magnetic filament burst out from the Sun, producing one of the best shows that the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has seen (Aug. 31, 2012). Viewed in the 304 Angstrom wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, the filament strand gets stretched outwards until it finally breaks and heads off to the left. Some of the particles from this eruption did hit Earth with a glancing blow on Sept. 3, generating some beautiful aurora. The video clip covers four hours of activity.

Image Credit:
NASA/SDO

Image Addition Date:
2012-08-31