Caption: 
New SwRI-led research connects circular flare ribbons, as observed with by Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope during the M4.7-class solar flare on May 3, 2023, with energy released by repeated bursts of magnetic reconnection and quasi-periodic pulsations.  The red and blue colors represent plasma flowing downward and upward, respectively. Downward flows pulsed in time across the entire ribbon suggest that magnetic field lines breaking and reforming release tremendous amounts of energy that drive the entire flare.