Early on Jan. 31, 2013, SDO observed a phenomenon in AIA 304 that most of us do not recall ever seeing before: a ring-shaped filament that lay flat above the Sun’s surface. Plasma streamed along the magnetic field lines in both directions along the field lines. Before long, the filament became unstable and erupted in a large swirl with most of the materials falling back into the Sun. A small filament that was behind the larger erupting filament is reveled by the eruption. The
video clip in the SDO Gallery covers about eight hours of activity. You never know what you are going to see next.
