An active region spit, flared several times and sputtered before it unleashed a sizable eruptive prominence, seen here in extreme (July 8-9, 2011) as seen in extreme ultraviolet light by STEREO's Behind spacecraft, as well as a large coronal mass ejection.
From its perspective more than 90 degrees behind Earth's position, then, the blast would appear to be headed towards Earth. However, observations from both SOHO and SDO showed that the blast emerged at an angle that took it well clear of Earth. The video covers about one day.
Credit: NASA STEREO
