Solar Ordeal: 133 Days

This video documents the dynamic solar activity spanning from August 12 to December 22, 2022, as observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Positioned in space around Earth, SDO has consistently captured intricate imagery of the Sun for nearly 13 years, yielding invaluable insights into the behavior of our nearest star and its impact on the solar system.

Equipped with a trio of instruments, SDO adeptly captures a visual snapshot of the Sun at intervals of 0.75 seconds. Among these instruments, the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) stands out, acquiring images every 12 seconds across 10 distinct wavelengths of light. This 133-day time lapse predominantly showcases photographs taken at a wavelength of 17.1 nanometers, which corresponds to an extreme-ultraviolet range exposing the Sun's outermost atmospheric layer: the corona. By compiling images separated by 108 seconds, the resulting movie condenses approximately four months—or 133 days—of solar observations into a concise 59-minute presentation. Within the footage, one can observe luminous active regions traversing the Sun's surface as it completes a full rotation, a process that takes roughly 27 days. Projecting above these bright areas are magnetic loops, containing searing plasma ensnared by magnetic fields. Additionally, these bright zones serve as the origins of solar flares—intense bursts of brightness—stemming from magnetic reconnection, a phenomenon in which magnetic fields merge with a dazzling flash.

Despite SDO's unwavering focus on the Sun, there have been instances where it momentarily missed the action. Some of the instances of darkness in the video occur when Earth or the Moon obstruct SDO's view by passing between the spacecraft and the Sun. Additional periods of darkness are attributed to temporary instrument downtime or data inconsistencies. Remarkably, SDO transmits a colossal 1.4 terabytes of data to the ground on a daily basis. Instances where the Sun appears off-center are attributed to moments when SDO was engaged in the calibration of its instruments.