Entertainment&Science

SDO has collected millions of scientific images of our nearest star, giving scientists new insights into its workings. SDO’s measurements of the Sun — from the interior to the atmosphere, magnetic field, and energy output — have greatly contributed to our understanding of our closest star. SDO’s images have also become iconic — if you’ve ever seen a close up of activity on the Sun, it was likely from an SDO image.

live solar system

what is solar cycle and what does it means .

NASA currently is working on a plan to explore other worlds. The space station is one of the first steps. NASA will use lessons learned on the space station to prepare for human missions that reach farther into space than ever before.

This visualization shows 4k video taken from the International Space Station (ISS) in April 2016.

A 4K Ultra-High-Definition video camera (actually 3840x1920) on the International Space Station provides a stunning view of our planet from above.

In this visualization, we present GOLD (in geostationary orbit around Earth) and ICON (in low Earth orbit). The colors over Earth represent model data from the IRI (International Reference Ionosphere) model of the density of the singly-ionized oxygen atom at an altitude of 350 kilometers. Red represents high density. The ion density is enhanced above and below the geomagnetic equator (not perfectly aligned with the geographic equator) on the dayside due to the ionizing effects of solar ultraviolet radiation combined with the effects of high-altitude winds and the geomagnetic field.

Global snow cover and sea ice waxes and wanes with the seasons, as the axial tilt of the Earth with respect to the Sun oscillates throughout the year. As can be seen in this visualization, the cycles of ice and snow are about six months out of phase between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres,

how the composition of the neutral atmosphere changes during a geomagnetic

Norway, near the Arctic Circle captured these images of an unusual, spiraling aurora. Credit: Fred Sigernes/Kjell Henriksen observatory, Longyearbyen, Norway

2019 total solar eclipse over South American in visible light (left) and ultraviolet light (right). The ultraviolet light shows emissions from molecular nitrogen. This is the first time scientists have been able to watch such eclipse-borne changes evolve across the Southern hemisphere from space.

particles stream from the Sun towards Earth. Solar radiation ionizes the upper atmosphere, creating a sea of charged particles: the ionosphere.

rsion presents the path of the solar eclipse but variations are available .

the nitrogen Lyman-Birge-Hopfield (LBH) bands. In the oxygen version, the Appleton anomaly is faintly visible above and below the equator on the nightside of the Earth. This version presents the path of the solar eclipse but variations are available in the popup menu to the right.

This version presents the path of the solar eclipse but variations are available in the popup menu to the right.

The GOLD instrument aboard the SES 14 satellite observes the Earth in ultraviolet light. In this region of the electromagnetic spectrum, it sees emission of atmospheric ions, atoms and molecules activated by incoming solar radiation.