Movies of giant loops projecting from the surface of the Sun
are giving new insights into the complex mechanisms that drive solar flares and
Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). These
eruptions release vast energy and electrically charged particles that can
affect the Earth through space weather.
Imagery from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), used in two
separate studies, shows the dynamics of loops before, during and after
eruptions. Results have been presented at the National Astronomy Meeting in St
Andrews.