Premium Only Content
133 Days on the Sun NASA research on sun
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
Video Description:
On the left side of the frame is the full circle of the Sun. It appears in a golden yellow color, but splotchy and with thin yellow wisps extending from the surface. Some areas are very bright and others almost black. The whole Sun rotates steadily, with one full rotation taking 12 minutes in this time lapse. There are usually only a few bright regions visible at a time and they shift and flash like small fires. From these regions there are wispy loops reaching up above the surface that rapidly change shape and size.
On the right side of the frame are two white-outlined squares with enlargements of interesting regions of the Sun.
-
1:14:05
Tucker Carlson
15 hours ago“I’ll Win With or Without You,” Teamsters Union President Reveals Kamala Harris’s Famous Last Words
218K370 -
1:58:31
The Dilley Show
15 hours ago $34.05 earnedTrump Conquering Western Hemisphere? w/Author Brenden Dilley 12/23/2024
163K49 -
1:09:59
Geeks + Gamers
16 hours agoSonic 3 DESTROYS Mufasa And Disney, Naughty Dog Actress SLAMS Gamers Over Intergalactic
111K21 -
51:59
The Dan Bongino Show
17 hours agoDemocrat Donor Admits The Scary Truth (Ep. 2393) - 12/23/2024
924K3.09K -
2:32:15
Matt Kohrs
1 day agoRumble CEO Chris Pavlovski Talks $775M Tether Partnership || The MK Show
141K36 -
28:23
Dave Portnoy
1 day agoDavey Day Trader Presented by Kraken - December 23, 2024
171K44 -
59:29
BonginoReport
19 hours agoTrump, Murder Plots, and the Christmas Miracle: Evita + Jack Posobiec (Ep.110) - 12/23/2024
174K151 -
2:59:14
Wendy Bell Radio
21 hours agoNothing To See Here
137K80 -
2:12:18
TheDozenPodcast
1 day agoIslam vs Christianity: Bob of Speakers' Corner
118K33 -
14:36
The StoneZONE with Roger Stone
2 days agoRoger Stone Delivers Riveting Speech at Turning Point’s AMFEST 2024 | FULL SPEECH
137K36