IRIS Movie of the Day
At least once a week a movie of the Sun taken by NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is posted by one of the scientists operating the instrument.
Small Flares Near Solar Minimum
Credit: IRIS, LMSAL/NASA, Jake Parker
As we approach solar minimum, active regions like this (AR12680) become less common and less energetic on average. Despite this, IRIS still observes many small flares and brightenings in regions of stronger magnetic field. This small flare, while too small to be classified, is still able to accelerate plasma at ~80,000 K to a hundred kilometers per second in a few minutes. This energized plasma follows the Sun's local magnetic field and shows us its brilliant and complex structure.