A mass of plasma gathered itself into a twisting mass, spun around for a bit, then rose up and broke apart over a 10-hour period (Oct. 13, 2015). The image and video were produced with a combination of two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light. Prominences are unstable clouds of gas tethered above the surface of the Sun by magnetic forces. Much of the jittering and odd jumping motions above the surface were artifacts caused by brightening and contrast changes used to bring out the detail and structure of the prominence.

Movie
PIA20008_Prom_combo_Oct_big.mp4
PIA20008_Prom_combo_Oct_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.