NASA SDO - Fiery Looping Rain on the Sun

Eruptive events on the Sun can be wildly different. Some come just with a solar flare, some with an additional ejection of solar material called a coronal mass ejection (CME), and some with complex moving structures in association with changes in magnetic field lines that loop up into the Sun's atmosphere, the corona.

On July 19, 2012, an eruption occurred on the sun that produced all three. A moderately powerful solar flare exploded on the Sun's lower right hand limb, sending out light and radiation. Next came a CME, which shot off to the right out into space. And then, the Sun treated viewers to one of its dazzling magnetic displays -- a phenomenon known as coronal rain.

Over the course of the next day, hot plasma in the corona cooled and condensed along strong magnetic fields in the region. Magnetic fields, themselves, are invisible, but the charged plasma is forced to move along the lines, showing up brightly in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength of 304 Angstroms, which highlights material at a temperature of about 50,000 Kelvin. This plasma acts as a tracer, helping scientists watch the dance of magnetic fields on the Sun, outlining the fields as it slowly falls back to the solar surface.

The footage in this video was collected by the Solar Dynamics Observatory's AIA instrument. SDO collected one frame every 12 seconds, and the movie plays at 30 frames per second, so each second in this video corresponds to 6 minutes of real time. The video covers 12:30 a.m. EDT to 10:00 p.m. EDT on July 19, 2012.

Credit: NASA SDO
Music: "Thunderbolt" by Lars Leonhard, courtesy of artist.

[dipi]

APOD 2018-05-27 (»Coronal Rain on the Sun«) sent me here.
How tiny and precious all our lives are … as always, astronomy is a character-building and humbling experience, as Carl Sagan said.

[StephenPShaw]

One of my favorite SDO video captures of Sol.
Thanks the reminder. :)
#CoronalRain  

[XenonPTP]

Absolutely stunning imagery, full credit also to the person who chose the music to accompany the video, the dynamics of our sun is awe-inspiring to say the least, thank you so much for posting this video.

[blucat]

This is awesome. I think this is the best video/pic I've seen so far that shows what the surface of the Sun is like. That you can take photos like this is remarkable.

[audreyfischer]

One of the most mesmerizing events i have ever seen. Kudos to SDO for making it possible for us to witness this solar "waterfall" of plasma ~ coronal rain. The music is perfect.

[guyfawkesbeer]

NASA developed and deployed gas-resistant probes as far back in 1976 in order to photograph the Sun. The latest models are capable of capturing HD video, similar to Canon 5D and so on, which is why these images are so spectacular.

[WildBillCox]

So beautiful, so awesome, so much energy being released that plasma roils and whirls in desperate attempt to let it through.

An intellectual exercise is to imagine that it can take a photon* thousands of years to penetrate from the fusion zone through the highly ionized medium above it and finally escape out into the blissful void. There's that much going on in the way.

*The energy of that original photon will likely be emitted as a separate discrete quantum. Gauge particles merely represent charge or potential in whatever field, force, or medium you examine.

[Chapsn]

hey thanks man, you're totally right, sometimes its hard to understand the scale of it all. its all so fascinating! thanks for your comment!

[sdsolarovens]

Magnificently celestial - Catching and converting this natural energy into thermal electric applications helps supplement our future energy needs

[ajtronic]

The NASA Heliophysics Channel always leaves me in awe. Keep them coming please, this shit is magnificent and overwhelming.

[Kragatar]

That is incredible.

It's hard to believe how much energy the sun contains. Blasting out that much power for billions of years and it still isn't anywhere near depleted. And that's just one little star out of damn near infinity in the universe...

[soniaoliveira]

MUITÍSSIMO BELO. O ESPAÇO É EXPETACULAR SURPREENDENTE E CHEIA DE MISTÉRIO... GOSTO DE ACOMPANHAR E VER TANTA BELEZA.

[halwag]

This video is beyond SF. Helio-physics---just when I was learning geo physics. Thanx.

[SuperLucL]

Dit zijn oerkrachten, gelijk ze altijd hebben bestaan, we zien hier een stukje van de eeuwigheid, prachtig...

[merithomason]

Thanks to brother Mitch for enlightening me with this beauty!! I was AMAZED when the "Earth to scale" showed up.

[EuricoDaLuz]

Simply amazing. Really the MAN has lots to learn to understand the Universe!

[oker]

there's also been seen plasmic and magnetic tornadoes on the sun; in fact, it's suggested these solar tornadoes are responsible for the transfer of heat to the corona.

[bugwet]

Thats what blew me away too. Imagine if earth were in the middle of that? With fire everywhere you were to look...

[chrisvolkmann]

Because they are electrically charged, electrons, protons, and ions in the rain were gracefully channeled along existing magnetic loops near the Sun's surface, making the scene appear as a surreal three-dimensional sourceless waterfall. The resulting surprisingly-serene spectacle is shown in ultraviolet light and highlights matter glowing at a temperature of about 50, 000 Kelvin.

[slywlf]

Absolutely amazing! Doing the presentation with this evocative music really enhanced the experience - Thanks!!!