Solar Dynamics Unveiled: A 133-Day Journey Through the Sun's Corona

The video captures solar activity from August 12 to December 22, 2022, as observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). SDO has been continuously imaging the Sun in high resolution for almost 13 years, leading to numerous insights into its behavior and impact on the solar system. With its suite of instruments, SDO records the Sun's images at rapid intervals, including the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), which captures images every 12 seconds at 10 different wavelengths.

This time-lapse spans 133 days and showcases images taken at 17.1 nanometers, revealing the Sun's outermost atmospheric layer, known as the corona. The video condenses over four months of solar observations into 59 minutes, highlighting the Sun's rotation and the passage of bright active regions. The loops extending from these regions depict magnetic fields containing hot plasma. These regions also give rise to solar flares, bright flashes resulting from magnetic field interactions.

Occasional dark frames in the video occur due to Earth or the Moon blocking SDO's view of the Sun, as well as technical issues. SDO transmits a substantial amount of data to the ground daily. Off-center Sun images were captured during instrument calibration. NASA's ongoing missions, including SDO, will continue to monitor the Sun, yielding insights about our position in space and ensuring astronaut and asset safety.

The video is accompanied by a continuous mix from Lars Leonhard's "Geometric Shapes" album. Credit for the video goes to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, with Scott Wiessinger as the Lead Producer, Tom Bridgman as the Lead Visualizer, and Scott Wiessinger as the Editor.

Description of the video: The video features the Sun on the left side, displaying a golden yellow color with varying brightness and wisps extending from its surface. The Sun rotates steadily, taking 12 minutes per rotation in the time-lapse. Bright regions on the Sun's surface shift and flash like small fires, while wispy loops above rapidly change shape and size. The right side of the frame contains two squares outlining interesting Sun regions with enlargements.