Jumpy Active Region

A close-up view of one day in the life of a rather small active region shows the agitation and dynamism of its magnetic field (Dec. 21, 2016). This wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light reveals particles as they spin along the cascading arches of magnetic field lines above the active region. Some darker plasma rises up and spins around at the edge of the sun near the end of the video clip also being pulled by unseen magnetic forces.

Movies are available at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA15032