Watch a Round Fiery Gas Cloud Explode Off the Sun

A round solar filament curved off of the sun on March 13, creating a stunning spectacle that was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).

Solar filaments are gas clouds that hover over the sun, held in place by magnetic fields in the atmosphere, EarthSky reports. In this incident, images were taken every 12 seconds over a three-hour period in which the filament put on its show earlier this month. Filaments are usually unstable, and often last only a few days.

[EarthSky]