--- description: NASA shared a video on Instagram of the sun's stretched loops, creating an incredible light show title: Watch NASA's Video of the Sun Putting on an Incredible Light Show image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ad457888754023f/6988be34fb4eac03f48911aa/screen-shot-2017-03-13-at-5-54-47-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch NASA's Video of the Sun Putting on an Incredible Light Show by [Madeline Farber](/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2017 10:28 PM CUT by [Madeline Farber](/author/madeline-farber/) ## Madeline Farber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 13, 2017 10:28 PM CUT On Monday, NASA released a[ new video](https://www.instagram.com/p/BRlWcs8hjjM/ "undefined") of the sun putting on what looked like a magical light show, otherwise known as “stretched loops.” According to [NASA](http://www.thedrive.com/news/7921/nasa-may-put-astronauts-on-the-giant-sls-rockets-first-flight-at-trumps-request "undefined"), the brilliant lights seen in the video happen when an active region of the [sun](http://time.com/collection-post/4571705/top-10-ya-childrens-books-2016/item/the-sun-is-also-a-star-nicola-yoon/ "undefined") is rotated, showing its profile. When this occurs, the sun’s elongated loops stretch and sway above it. NASA says these loops are actually charged particles that are made visible by “extreme ultraviolet light.” When they’re moved along the magnetic field lines of the active region of the sun, you can see glimmering yellow lights. The video covers nearly 30 hours of activity. Check out the video above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4700269/nasa-video-sun-light-show/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4700269/nasa-video-sun-light-show/"},"headline":"Watch NASA's Video of the Sun Putting on an Incredible Light Show","datePublished":"2017-03-13T22:28:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:56:51.336Z","description":"Also known as \"stretched loops\"","url":"https://time.com/4700269/nasa-video-sun-light-show/","keywords":["Space","NASA","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ad457888754023f/6988be34fb4eac03f48911aa/screen-shot-2017-03-13-at-5-54-47-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeline Farber","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeline-farber/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4ad457888754023f/6988be34fb4eac03f48911aa/screen-shot-2017-03-13-at-5-54-47-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2017-03-13 at 5.54.47 PM","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4700269/nasa-video-sun-light-show/","name":"Watch NASA's Video of the Sun Putting on an Incredible Light Show"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"Also known as \"stretched loops\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4700269/nasa-video-sun-light-show/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4700269/nasa-video-sun-light-show/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```