A spectacular eruption of particles danced across the sun on Thursday, and a NASA satellite captured it all.
READ MORE: WATCH — NASA’s ultra high-definition video of the sun’s activity over the past year
The Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a magnetic filament as it crept across the sun. Magnetic filaments are long regions of dense, relatively cool gas that are held in place by magnetic fields.
The sun appears green in the video as it was recorded in various forms of light, invisible to the human eye.
The particles resulted in a coronal mass ejection (CME), where fast-moving particles travel along the solar wind. If those particles reach Earth, they can interact with our magnetic field and produce northern lights. However, this CME doesn’t seem to be directed at Earth.