Frenetic Active Region - May 15-17, 2007

In this STEREO image and video clip of the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light (May 15-17, 2007), a close-up view of Active Region 963 shows just how busy and tangled the magnetic forces can become. The video covers about 2-day period. One can see several solar flares followed by bright arcing loops above them. The largest blast can be seen sending a wave of energy across part of the Sun's surface. Active regions are areas of intense magnetic activity that appear brighter in extreme UV light, in this case the wavelength of 195 Angstroms. The images were captured by the Ahead spacecraft.

• freneticAR051507.mov - (5.09 mb)   
• freneticAR051507.mpg - (7.67 mb)