{"id":12900,"date":"2016-07-17T20:04:45","date_gmt":"2016-07-18T00:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12900"},"modified":"2016-07-17T20:04:45","modified_gmt":"2016-07-18T00:04:45","slug":"the-sun-flips-in-solar-dynamics-observatory-imagery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12900","title":{"rendered":"The Sun flips in Solar Dynamics Observatory imagery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s a cool GIF animation of images of the sun\u00a0from the\u00a0Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Sun-Watching SDO Does a Somersault<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

On July 6, 2016, engineers instructed NASA\u2019s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, to roll 360 degrees on one axis. SDO dutifully performed the seven-hour maneuver, while producing some dizzying data: For this period of time, SDO images \u2013 taken every 12 seconds \u2013 appeared to show the sun spinning, as if stuck on a pinwheel. This video was taken by SDO\u2019s Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths that are typically invisible to our eyes, but was colorized here in gold for easy viewing.<\/p>\n

\"10f0.15[1]\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This maneuver happens twice a year to help SDO\u2019s Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, or HMI, instrument take precise measurements of the solar limb, the outer edge of the sun as seen by SDO. Were the sun perfectly spherical, this would be a much simpler task. But the solar surface is dynamic, leading to occasional distortions. This makes it hard for HMI to find the sun\u2019s edge when it\u2019s perfectly still. HMI\u2019s biannual roll lets each part of the camera look at the entire perimeter of the sun, helping it map the sun\u2019s shape much more precisely.<\/p>\n

HMI tracks variations in the solar limb over time to help us understand how the shape of the sun changes with respect to the solar cycle, the sun\u2019s 11-year pattern of solar activity. The more we know about what drives this activity \u2013 activity that can include giant eruptions of solar material and radiation that can create hazards for satellites and astronauts \u2013 the better we may someday predict its onset.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s a cool GIF animation of images of the sun\u00a0from the\u00a0Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO): Sun-Watching SDO Does a Somersault On July 6, 2016, engineers instructed NASA\u2019s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, to roll 360 degrees on one axis. SDO dutifully performed the seven-hour maneuver, while producing some dizzying data: For this period of time, SDO … Continue reading The Sun flips in Solar Dynamics Observatory imagery<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-multiple-media","category-solar-science"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-3m4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1836,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=1836","url_meta":{"origin":12900,"position":0},"title":"Three years of the Sun in four minutes","author":"TopSpacer","date":"April 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA releases a video showing a time lapse sequence of solar images taken over three years by the\u00a0 Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). There are 2 images per day: Three Years of SDO Images - NASA Goddard Multimedia Item 11255 - Three Years of SDO Images http:\/\/youtu.be\/piuKlpJmjfg Three Years of SDO\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Multiple media"","block_context":{"text":"Multiple media","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"composite SDO image of sun from April 2012-April 2013","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nasa.gov\/images\/content\/743349main2_Timelapse_Sun_2k-16x9-673.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6631,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6631","url_meta":{"origin":12900,"position":1},"title":"Video: Highlights of our sun from 4 years of SDO observations","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA's\u00a0SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory)\u00a0has a revamped website and great video with a music soundtrack displaying spectacular images of our home star:\u00a0SDO is GO: Four Years of SDO and A New Look for our Website! - SDO Blog http:\/\/youtu.be\/NAg4qXsk99c From the caption: Information about the individual clips used in this video\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Multiple media"","block_context":{"text":"Multiple media","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9925,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9925","url_meta":{"origin":12900,"position":2},"title":"Video: 5 year time-lapse of the sun with images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA Goddard marks the five year anniversary of\u00a0\u00a0the launch of the Solar Dynamics Observatory with some cool videos: New Videos Highlight NASA SDO's Fifth Anniversary February 11, 2015 marks five years in space for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory or SDO, which provides incredibly detailed images of the Earth-facing side of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Science"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Science","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=31"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/GSVv40M2aks\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7230,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=7230","url_meta":{"origin":12900,"position":3},"title":"Videos: Recent solar activity","author":"TopSpacer","date":"April 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The \u00a0Solar Dynamics Observatory\u00a0(SDO) \u00a0imaged a big solar flare this week :\u00a0\u00a0Science of the sun: NASA releases solar flare footage - BBC\u00a0(includes video). And here are a couple more videos of solar activity from the SDO Youtube gallery: http:\/\/youtu.be\/Ex-KkmTWlpU Caption: Powerful magnetic forces above an active region on the Sun\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Science"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Science","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=31"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Ex-KkmTWlpU\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12610,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12610","url_meta":{"origin":12900,"position":4},"title":"Videos: Solar observatory spacecraft captures great views of Mercury transit","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mercury transit\u00a0was seen by observers on the ground and by satellites in space.\u00a0The best\u00a0views of the transit came from\u00a0the\u00a0Solar Dynamics Observatory\u00a0(SDO) spacecraft, whose multiple imagers showed the transit in different parts of the spectrum: https:\/\/youtu.be\/AhWMOkrzKzs Another SDO view: http:\/\/mercurytransit.gsfc.nasa.gov\/assets\/movies\/Mercury_AIA96s_171\/All\/Mercury_AIA96s_171_All.mp4 Here is a NASA panel discussion about the transit: https:\/\/youtu.be\/2V0A7yYdJSQ","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=37"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/AhWMOkrzKzs\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1063,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=1063","url_meta":{"origin":12900,"position":5},"title":"Coronal Rain falls fearsome hot upon the Sun","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory in space recorded this awesome event on the sun last July: NASA's SDO Shows A Little Rain On the Sun - NASA - Feb.20.13 http:\/\/youtu.be\/oI9YReLbuvg From the caption: Eruptive events on the Sun can be wildly different. Some come just with a solar flare, some with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Multiple media"","block_context":{"text":"Multiple media","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/oI9YReLbuvg\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12900"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12902,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12900\/revisions\/12902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}