Somersaulting Solar Prominence

STEREO (Behind) watched closely as a solar prominence rose up from the Sun's surface and seemed to somersault as it broke away into space (May 15, 2009). The video clip shows the action over a half-day period. Prominences appear and disappear almost daily. This one becomes taller and extends further than most. Also, its flipping motion makes for an interesting event to watch. This event was only observed by the STEREO (Behind) in its unique position trailing Earth's orbit.

• Flip_promzm_best.mov - (8.28 mb)   
• Flip_promzm_4.mov - (591 kb)   
• Flip_promzm_512.mpg - (3.44 mb)   
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