Solar Dynamics Observatory and Seeing the Sun

Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) SDO during assembly The Launch Orbit Mission Instruments Capabilities

SDO SDO launched on February 11, 2010, 10:23 am EST on an Atlas V from SLC 41 from Cape Canaveral. After launch, the spacecraft was placed into an orbit around the earth with an initial perigee of about 1,600 mi. SDO is undergoing a series of orbit-raising maneuvers which will adjust its orbit until the spacecraft reaches its planned circular, geosynchronus orbit at an altitude of 22,000 miles, at 102° W longitude, inclined at 28.5° (near Chihuahua, Mexico). Friday, May , SDO passed a major milestone and was declared an operational mission.

SDO SDO will study how solar activity is created and how Space Weather comes from that activity. Measurements of the interior of the Sun, the Sun's magnetic field, the hot plasma of the solar corona, and the irradiance that creates the ionospheres of the planets are the primary projects. The initial program is scheduled to last about five years.

SDO SDO’s three instruments: Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI)

SDO Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) is a battery of four telescopes designed to photograph the sun's surface and atmosphere. AIA filters cover 10 different wavelength bands, or colors, selected to reveal key aspects of solar activity. The bulk of SDO's data stream will come from these telescopes. PI: Alan Title, PI Institution: Lockheed Martin Solar Astrophysics Laboratory.

SDO EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) The Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) will measure fluctuations in the sun's ultraviolet output. EUV radiation sun has a direct and powerful effect on Earth's upper atmosphere, heating it, puffing it up, and breaking apart atoms and molecules. "We really don't know how fast the sun varies at these wavelengths," - Dean Pesnell Goddard Space Center PI: Tom Woods, PI Institution: University of Colorado.

SDO Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) will map solar magnetic fields and peer beneath the sun's opaque surface using a technique called helioseismology. A key goal of this experiment is to decipher the physics of the sun's magnetic dynamo. PI: Phil Scherrer, PI Institution: Stanford University.

SDO The image below illustrates the resolution capabilities of the SDO, STEREO (3-D Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory), and SOHO (SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecrafts. SDO's AIA instrument (right image) has twice the image resolution than STEREO (middle image) and 4 times greater imaging resolution than SOHO (left image). The image frequency also varies. SDO takes 1 image every second. At best STEREO takes 1 image every 3 minutes and SOHO takes 1 image every 12 minutes.

SDO The ground station consists of two 18- meter radio antennas in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, constructed specifically for SDO. Mission controllers will operate the spacecraft remotely from the Mission Operations Center at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The combined data rate will be about 130 Mbit/s, and the craft will generate approximately 1.5 terabytes of data per day, beaming back 150 million bits of data every second (The equivalent of about 380 full length movies).

SDO Image Gallery Coronal Hole Earth vs Sun Multi Temperature Solar Flare EVE Graph

Spaceweather

Seeing the Sun Space Odyssey Interactive Exhibit Exhibit Review Points to Consider

Convection Zone 1. The convection zone makes up the outer 30 percent of the sun’s disk. 2. Hot gases from the interior of the sun rise toward the surface on huge plumes that cool as they rise. 3. These movements of hot gas cause turbulent boiling of gases on the Sun’s surface. 4. Temperature: 10,000 to 3.5 million degrees Fahrenheit

Radiation Zone 1. The radiation zone makes up 70 percent of the Sun’s interior. 2. Energy produced in the core is carried outward through this zone in the form of x-rays, and other radiation. 3. Temperature: 3.5 million to 27 million degrees Fahrenheit

Core 1. Nuclear fusion in the Sun’s core releases the energy that makes the Sun shine. 2. Nuclear fusion happens when gravitational pressure creates such extreme heat that hydrogen nuclei (protons) fuse into helium nuclei. 3. Temperature: 27 million degrees Fahrenheit

Photosphere 1.The photosphere is a thin layer only a few hundred miles thick. 2. The photosphere is the only part of the sun that human eyes can actually see, but you should never look directly at the Sun. 3. Sunspots and granulation occur in the photosphere. 4. Temperature: 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit NOTE: granules are caused by convection currents of plasma

Chromosphere 1. The chromosphere is about 3,000 miles thick and lies above the photosphere. It looks red during a solar eclipse. 2. Solar eruptions called prominences begin in the chromosphere. 3. Prominences are dense clouds of gas suspended above the surface by loops of the Sun’s magnetic field. 4. Temperature: 10,000 to 2 million degrees Fahrenheit

Corona 1. The corona is the Sun’s outer atmosphere. It is invisible to human eyes except during a total solar eclipse. 2. Gases in the Sun’s corona are much hotter and much less dense than the gases below. 3. The corona features the Sun’s most spectacular events, coronal mass ejection (CMEs) and solar flares. 4. Temperature: 2 million to 3.5 million degrees Fahrenheit NOTE: Temperatures are much higher than at the surface

X-ray

Ultraviolet

Visible

Infrared

Microwave

Seeing the Sun Points to make when facilitating Seeing the Sun Astronomers use space bound instruments above our atmosphere when studying the sun. A. SDO - geosynchronus orbit (2010) B. SOHO - LaGrange Point (L1) (1 million miles towards the sun) (1995) C. Stereo - 45 degrees ahead and 45 degrees behind the earth in its orbit around the sun (2006) SDO

Seeing the Sun Points to make when facilitating Seeing the Sun Earth bound instruments include: A. Swedish 1-meter Solar Telescope (SST) on La Palma (2002) B. The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope in Arizona outside of Tucson (1962)

Seeing the Sun Points to make when facilitating Seeing the Sun Spectroscopy is the science of the various wavelengths of light (electro magnetic spectrum).

Seeing the Sun Points to make when facilitating Seeing the Sun Helioseismology is the analysis of wave motions of the solar surface to determine the structure of the sun's interior.

Seeing the Sun Points to make when facilitating Seeing the Sun X-rays and ultraviolet rays are shorter wavelengths than visible light and the high energy they emit as they are ejected from the sun makes it important to study them in our technology oriented society. Cell Phones Satellites Astronauts

Seeing the Sun Points to make when facilitating Seeing the Sun Infrared and microwave rays are longer wavelengths than visible light.

Seeing the Sun Points to make when facilitating Seeing the Sun The different wavelengths of light reveal different temperatures as well as different layers of the sun allowing us to study the characteristics and composition of our sun as well as stars, galaxies and other celestial objects.

Seeing the Sun Summary Everything we know about the cosmos, we know because we analyze the properties of the light that these celestial objects emit. Their light can travel billions of light years before reaching earth but the information can still be gathered, analyzed and new theories developed. Studying our sun is the first step in developing our knowledge of the universe.

July 11, 2010 Total Solar Eclipse French Polynesia

July 11, 2010 Total Solar Eclipse French Polynesia

July 11, 2010 Total Solar Eclipse French Polynesia

July 11, 2010 Total Solar Eclipse French Polynesia

July 11, 2010 Total Solar Eclipse French Polynesia

July 11, 2010 Total Solar Eclipse Isla de Pascua (Easter Island)

July 11, 2010 Total Solar Eclipse Isla de Pascua (Easter Island)

July 11, 2010 Total Solar Eclipse Isla de Pascua (Easter Island)

July 11, 2010 Total Solar Eclipse Isla de Pascua (Easter Island)