Magnificent Outburst

Sparked by a medium-sized (C-class) flare, a long, magnetic filament burst out from the Sun, producing one of the best shows that the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has seen (Aug. 31, 2012). Viewed in the 304 Angstrom wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light, the filament strand gets stretched outwards until it finally breaks and heads off to the left. Some of the particles from this eruption did hit Earth with a glancing blow on Sept. 3, generating some beautiful aurora. The video clip covers four hours of activity.

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18167