The South Rises Again 
SDO watched as an active region in the Sun's southern hemisphere produced a whole series of looping arcs of plasma in profile (Sept. 11-13, 2010). The arcs are actually charged particles spiraling along magnetic field lines. The images were taken in extreme ultraviolet light and reveal the dynamic activity visible above active regions. The material seen here is ionized iron heated to about one million degrees. We have seen very little activity in this hemisphere as opposed to the northern one, hence the tongue in cheek title.
Search Tag(s): 171, active regions, limb, loops
Movies
- Loop_profile_zm_best.mov - mov
- Loop_profile512.mov - mov