How to stare at the sun without going blind:
The loops represent plasma held in place by magnetic fields. They are concentrated in "active regions" where the magnetic fields are the strongest. These active regions usually appear in visible light as sunspots. The events in this video represent 24 hours of activity on September 25, 2011.
Richard Metzger says, "I could stare at this for hours and not get bored."
The Dish 