STARING AT THE SUN

Heat is all about the sun. We normally see beauty created by the sun. But today, we wanted to check out the beauty happening right now within it.

Thanks to NASA's  Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, and ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, we are seeing lots.

Within the past month, the sun has been shooting more than normal rays at us. On June 20th (2013), NASA reported that a particularly swift coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted, rising off from the sun’s surface at a speed of about 1350 miles/second, sending billions of tons of particles into space.  

 

CME’s cause geomagnetic storms, which can affect power grids, electronics, and communications systems.

The sun’s CME activity typically waxes and wanes in an 11-year cycle. It is set to peak in late 2013.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is the most advanced spacecraft ever designed to study the sun and its dynamic behavior. The SDO mission is the cornerstone of a NASA science program called Living With a Star (LWS), looking at how the solar system directly affects life on Earth, particularly with respect to space weather. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center is the U.S. government's official source for space weather forecasts, alerts, watches, and warnings.

The image above, recently taken by SDO's AIA instrument at 171 Angstrom, shows the current conditions of the quiet corona and upper transition region of the Sun.

The image above, captured by SDO on June 18 (2013), shows a giant coronal hole (dark blue), measuring about 400,000 miles wide (approximately the width of 50 Earths). Solar particles flow out of this hole in the sun’s atmosphere in a brisk solar wind (400-500 miles/second), and the area cools relative to its surroundings.

 

An elongated channel of plasma became brighter after a solar filament lifted off from the Sun (June 24-25, 2013). The video above shows plasma filaments dancing on the Sun’s magnetic stage, as they shoot up and dive back down, plopping onto the hot surface. The event was observed in extreme ultraviolet light.

Particles and ionizing radiation from these solar storm events rain down and enter at Earth's poles. In some instances, auroras, such as the one in the image above, result.

The SDO program has produced a plethora of some of the most gorgeous images you will ever see. To see even more of them, click here.