Solar prominence that bents

A solar prominence rises from the surface of the Sun on the right side of this image last October 4, we can see this here along the right edge of our own star, as a red loop which is an ejection of ionised gas known as plasma that flows along the Sun’s magnetic fields. When the magnetic structure becomes unstable, the plasma bursts outwards, creating magnificent twists that can stretch into space for thousands of kilometres.

A prominence forms over timescales of about a day, and stable prominences may persist in the corona for several months, looping hundreds of thousands of kilometres into space. Scientists are still researching how and why prominences are formed.

The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas comprised of electrically charged hydrogen and helium. The prominence plasma flows along a tangled and twisted structure of magnetic fields generated by the sun’s internal dynamo. An erupting prominence occurs when such a structure becomes unstable and bursts outward, releasing the plasma.

Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), JPL