Premium Only Content

SWOT: Earth Science Satellite Will Help Communities Plan for a Better Future
This video chronicles solar activity from Aug. 12 to Dec. 22, 2022, as captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). From its orbit in space around Earth, SDO has steadily imaged the Sun in 4K x 4K resolution for nearly 13 years. This information has enabled countless new discoveries about the workings of our closest star and how it influences the solar system.
With a triad of instruments, SDO captures an image of the Sun every 0.75 seconds. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument alone captures images every 12 seconds at 10 different wavelengths of light. This 133-day time lapse showcases photos taken at a wavelength of 17.1 nanometers, which is an extreme-ultraviolet wavelength that shows the Sun’s outermost atmospheric layer: the corona. Compiling images taken 108 seconds apart, the movie condenses 133 days, or about four months, of solar observations into 59 minutes. The video shows bright active regions passing across the face of the Sun as it rotates. The Sun rotates approximately once every 27 days. The loops extending above the bright regions are magnetic fields that have trapped hot, glowing plasma. These bright regions are also the source of solar flares, which appear as bright flashes as magnetic fields snap together in a process called magnetic reconnection.
While SDO has kept an unblinking eye pointed toward the Sun, there have been a few moments it missed. Some of the dark frames in the video are caused by Earth or the Moon eclipsing SDO as they pass between the spacecraft and the Sun. Other blackouts are caused by instrumentation being down or data errors. SDO transmits 1.4 terabytes of data to the ground every day. The images where the Sun is off-center were observed when SDO was calibrating its instruments.
SDO and other NASA missions will continue to watch our Sun in the years to come, providing further insights about our place in space and information to keep our astronauts and assets safe.
The music is a continuous mix from Lars Leonhard’s “Geometric Shapes” album, courtesy of the artist.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Scott Wiessinger (PAO): Lead Producer
Tom Bridgman (SVS): Lead Visualizer
Scott Wiessinger (PAO): Editor
-
2:11:17
Side Scrollers Podcast
19 hours agoINSANE Illegal Migrant Propaganda Xbox Game + Paypal REFUSES To Pay Dev + More | Side Scrollers
56.8K3 -
20:58
GritsGG
1 day agoProtect the President Challenge on Warzone!
12.9K -
1:49:07
The Michelle Moore Show
2 days ago'Biden's Immigration Mess, President's Trump Spiritual Cry For Help, English Speaking Truckers Only, Woke CEO's Killing of Conservative Brands, Palantir's Kill Chain' Mark Taylor: The Michelle Moore Show (Aug 25, 2025)
34K95 -
LIVE
Lofi Girl
2 years agoSynthwave Radio 🌌 - beats to chill/game to
202 watching -
2:14:18
The Pascal Show
14 hours ago $0.64 earnedTHEY LIED TO POLICE AGAIN? Jake & Rebecca Haro Have Lost Their Minds! Emmanuel Haro Search Continues
8.48K -
1:25:52
TruthStream with Joe and Scott
2 days agoSG Sits Down w/ LT From "And We Know": An 80K FT View of Humanity's Great Awakening from 8/22/2025
20.9K16 -
15:54
Lacey Mae ASMR
12 hours ago $0.88 earnedASMR For Sleep in 15 Minutes!
13.1K10 -
3:16:38
Price of Reason
13 hours agoTrump FIRES Fed Governor Lisa Cook! Cracker Barrel CRISIS Continues! James Gunn DCU Woes! Gamescon!
116K8 -
2:25:01
FreshandFit
8 hours agoTyreek Hill Pays Ex Wife $1 Million in Ongoing Fees From Divorce?!
37.5K4 -
2:03:46
Inverted World Live
10 hours agoHaunted Dolls Hack Amazon Alexa | Ep. 98
109K2