NASA Iris Spots Plasma Rain on the Sun's Surface

The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) managed to capture a mid-level solar flare from the surface of the Sun.

Singing in the rain? Not on the sun you wouldn't; IRIS observatory spots plasma rain. Look: https://t.co/TGlxKXGtiS pic.twitter.com/jbvehEf1YT

— NASA (@NASA) August 5, 2016 

The sudden appearance of bright lights can be seen from the horizon or edges of the sun on its solar limb. NASA defines solar flares as powerful explosions of radiation emanating from the Sun when huge amounts of magnetic energy are dispelled by the Sun. In turn, the energy will heat the Sun's atmosphere that releases the visual particles into space that can be captured and observed from the Earth using NASA's instruments.

The mesmerizing video shows solar flares that start with very minimal activity but continues to shoot up and release bigger and brighter flares in the middle of the footage. By observing and understanding the behavior of solar flares, IRIS can further analyze the solar flares and solar materials excreted by the Sun and its lower atmosphere. The solar flares observed by IRIS could also help scientists to further improve their knowledge on the changes that are happening in the Sun, the center of our solar system and where life depends on.

But the new video captured by IRIS does not only show solar flares but also the plasma or coronal rain as more "great loops", a solar flare-driven phenomenon appeared. They are also called post-flare loops. The coronal rain is composed of plasma thus it can also be called plasma rain.

"This material is plasma, a gas in which positively and negatively charged particles have separated, forming a super hot mix that follows paths guided by complex magnetic forces in the sun's atmosphere," Lina Tran from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center said in a press release.

Most materials emanating from the Sun are usually hot but when the plasma falls down it tends to cool down fast. NASA said it is capable of lowering its temperature from millions to tens of thousands of kelvins. It is also worth noting that the corona is even hotter than the Sun's surface. But scientists still cannot why there is a variation in terms of temperatures in the region where the Sun is located. It remains a mystery to science even up until today.