Flare Blowout A close-up look at a substantial active region for a day (July 9, 2010) shows a hotbed of magnetic activity that leads to a small solar flare bursting out into space near the end of the video clip. The images were taken by SDO's AIA instrument in the 171 Angstrom wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. The thin arcing loops are really particles spiraling along magnetic field lines above the active region. The images are taken in black and white with false color added to identify quickly which instrument was doing the observation.