In the Wendelstein 7-AS stellarator (Renner et al 1989 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 31 1579), under particularly high plasma densities, a non-stationary radiation zone is observed to be formed on the inboard side of the torus. It causes a degradation of the diamagnetic energy of up to 50%. The configurational aspects of the magnetic field influence the development of the radiation zone as follows. The critical density is related to the connection length of the magnetic field, i.e. the observed degradation sets in at lower densities for magnetic configurations with large connection lengths. From camera observations, in conjunction with forward calculations, it is found that the radiation zone is located on closed field lines and forms a toroidal belt. Based on complementary observations, it is concluded that the radiation zone is caused by a radiative condensation instability (or multi-faceted asymmetric radiation from the edge). Fluctuations of the radiation zone were recorded using a fast framing camera with a time resolution of 25 µs. Temporal variations as well as spatial movements were observed. The fluctuations were found on various lines-of-sight around the torus with correlation and phase shifts compatible with a toroidal propagation.