ESA Science & Technology - Our active star - the Sun

This movie shows a series of snapshots of the Sun taken over a time interval of three days by SOHO's Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) at a wavelength of 304 Å. This wavelength probes emission by ionised helium (He II), corresponding to a temperature of about 60 000 Kelvin, and shows the upper chromosphere of the Sun.

Intense solar activity, including filament eruptions and prominences, is clearly visible, highlighting that the Sun's corona is dynamically changing on every time scale probed by EIT.

The snapshots were taken between 8-10 January 2000.