When an active region rotated over to the edge of the sun, it presented us with a nice profile view of its elongated loops stretching and swaying above it (Mar. 8Ð9, 2017). These loops are actually charged particles (made visible in extreme ultraviolet light) swirling along the magnetic field lines of the active region. The video covers about 30 hours of activity. Also of note is a darker twisting mass of plasma to the left of the active region being pulled and spun about by magnetic forces. Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA.
Search Tag(s): aia, loops, 171, active regions, magnetic field lines