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.
Flare ribbons and post-flare loops, top view!
Credit: IRIS, LMSAL/NASA
Flare ribbons occur during and after a flare when hot plasma due to the flare flows down along the loops and hits the surface of the Sun. In this video, the impulse of the flare has already occurred, the ribbons are recorded along with the post-flare loops containing plasma some of which are also responsible for forming the ribbons.