The thing I am discovering about solar observation and photography is that there are some real OMG moments. Of course, when those happen you need to keep your cool and pay attention to your camera settings. This I did not do. These pictures were to have been a video capture but I got caught up the beauty and awe as I watched this solar prominence eruption evolve over a 15 min period. Fortunately I did get 3 still images to share with everyone! As you can see, I had to back out my focal field as the eruption kept expanding and was extending past the frame.

Science fact of the day: This is not a solar flare. This is an eruption of a solar prominence. Prominences are the "dancing flames" seen at the edge of the solar disk. These jets of plasma are maintained in place by intense magnetism. If the magnetic fields get too entangled the result can be an explosive release of the plasma which will arc out from the sun and typically fall back to the surface over time.

A solar flare also comes from a magnetic cross-wiring but, instead of a visible plasma arc, a much higher energy state is created which releases higher energy electromagnetic radiation in the form of x-rays, radio waves, and UV light.

The two can occur concomitantly but not typically. No solar flare was detected on this date by high energy observatories.