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.
Large sunspot hosts C-class flare
Credit: IRIS, LMSAL/NASA, Paul Bryans
IRIS observed this large sunspot for several hours in July 2017. The material at the eastern edge of the spot (left from our point of view) is seen to perform what looks almost like an intricate dance, periodically rising up into the atmosphere before being dragged back down under the influence of gravity. Finally, at around 17:45, the built up magnetic energy causes a flare and releases material in a large eruption.