The launch of the Hinode satellite has allowed unprecedented high resolution , stable images of solar quiescent prominences to be taken over extended periods of time .
These new images led to the discovery of dark upflows that propagated from the base of prominences developing highly turbulent profiles .
As yet , how these flows are driven is not fully understood .
To study the physics behind this phenomena we use 3-D magnetohydrodynamic ( MHD ) simulations to investigate the nonlinear stability of the Kippenhahn-Shlüter prominence model to the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability .
The model simulates the rise of a buoyant tube inside a quiescent prominence , where the upper boundary between the tube and prominence model is perturbed to excite the interchange of magnetic field lines .
We found upflows of constant velocity ( maximum found 6 km s ^ { -1 } ) and a maximum plume width \approx 1500 km which propagate through a height of approximately 6 Mm in the no guide field case .
The case with the strong guide field ( initially B _ { y } = 2 B _ { x } ) results in a large plume that rises though the prominence model at \sim 5 km s ^ { -1 } with width \sim 900 km ( resulting in width of 2400 km when viewed along the axis of the prominence ) reaching a height of \sim 3.1 Mm .
In both cases nonlinear processes were important for determining plume dynamics .