Catalog Page for PIA21552

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PIA21552: Delicate Ballet

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observed a solar prominence gathering itself into a twisting cone, then rose up and broke apart in a delicate dance of plasma above the sun on Feb. 20, 2017.

Target Name:	Sol (our sun)
Mission:	SDO
Instrument:	Atmosphere Imaging Assembly
Product Size:	1800 x 1575 pixels (w x h)
Produced By:	SDO
Full-Res TIFF:	PIA21552.tif (4.835 MB)
Full-Res JPEG:	PIA21552.jpg (198.5 kB)

Click on image above for all movie download options

Original Caption Released with Image:

A solar prominence gathered itself into a twisting cone, then rose up and broke apart in a delicate dance of plasma above the sun (Feb. 20, 2017). The event, observed in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, lasted just about four hours. Prominences are unstable clouds of plasma suspended above the sun's surface by magnetic forces. This kind of event is not uncommon. The brighter area near the bottom of the images is an active region.

Movies
PIA21552_Delicate_Ballet304_big.mp4
PIA21552_Delicate_Ballet304_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.

Image Credit:

NASA/GSFC/Solar Dynamics Observatory

Image Addition Date:

2017-02-28