The sun, like you've never seen it before

The first images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory are set to be released today at 14:15 EDT.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory is the first mission to be launched for NASA's Living With a Star (LWS) Program, a program designed to understand the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth. SDO is designed to help us understand the Sun's influence on Earth and Near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and time and in many wavelengths simultaneously.

SDO's goal is to understand, driving towards a predictive capability, the solar variations that influence life on Earth and humanity's technological systems by determining:

* how the Sun's magnetic field is generated and structured
* how this stored magnetic energy is converted and released into the heliosphere and geospace in the form of solar wind, energetic particles, and variations in the solar irradiance.

More information here:

sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov...

For those that will be about at 1415 EDT, be sure to check the above link to see the newest images.

I look forward to the discussion!








[edit on 21/4/10 by Chadwickus]

Very exciting. It's going to be a vast improvement. I'm looking forward to the images.

Cool man, I love this kind of stuff. Can't wait.

reply to post by Chadwickus


Chadwickus.....

Many thanks.....

I shall watch this thread with great interest.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

Excellent!!!! S&F!!!!
I can't wait. I am mesmerized by it. I look into the holes of pure blackness, and I become overwhelmed by the mystery and the power. Really it's almost incomprehensible to me. Thanks for posting this!!!

About time they got some decent quality gear up there! Can't wait to see the resulting solar movies it pieces together. Who would of thought you could carry a multi lightwave almost real time (to certain extent) view of the sun, in your hands, on a beach, at night via wifi on a tablet computer in your hands 75 years ago?
Science never ceases to amaze me, its truely the most interesting mystery novel there is So much to study and learn, I wish I could go back to school again and start over with a university view towards the stars. *sigh*

S&F for you

[edit on 21-4-2010 by Qumulys]

Awesome stuff!

F'd and the S.

Thanks for posting this Chadwickus.
This should be really interesting

Have that bookmarked. S&F for you.

reply to post by Chadwickus


Cool stuff Chadwickus. I always enjoy your posts, thanks for sharing.

S&F because I can, and because I want to.

reply to post by Chadwickus


oh great! another prediction thread with no proof...

Thanks for the info! I look forward to seeing it

cool vids so far... really gives a feel for how dynamic the surface of the sun is. Seeing those solar "waves" coming off the surface and dissipating was awe inspiring.

This is exciting.

Can't wait to see all the imagery.

It's always cool to get a new look at anything outside of our atmosphere, especially the sun.

~Keeper

Thanks for the post and link Chad

I do however have some thoughts / questions. Is the resolution truly 16Megapixel, as said in the youtube video, or is it higher? I can't believe that NASA sends up a spacecraft with a resolution like that and not more. Granted, from the video there are 4 (seems that way - RGB - and a Gold filter), but 16MP? Is that because all 4 cameras have to create a single image, hence the 16MP resolution?

I'm wary that this resolution is the best NASA can get out of their budget. I might be wrong, I'm no scientist, but I just think they could get a better quality??

That being said, maybe battery life is an issue? Cameras gobble up more battery energy at higher resolution pictures.... So, who knows?

The conspiracy theorist in me says: "They have better on board" - The rationalist in me says: "There very well could be limitations"....

I love ATS, a place for us to express our thoughts and minds, and very often get answers.

Once again Chad, thanks for the info and youtube vid

Wow!!!

[edit on 21-4-2010 by Thermo Klein]

reply to post by Aggie Man


There's a lot more! Different frequencies and videos. Worth a look at the site. I just HAD to see a pic on this thread

Originally posted by Aggie Man
This is cool, but I was expecting more considering the images from this old post I did:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Maybe this is just the "tip of the ice burg". At least I hope it is!

Nice Find OP!

I believe it is just the 'tip of the iceburg' because the SDO is going to allow for much more information to be collected, as well as new types of images that portray different spectrums of light, electromagnetism, etc.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/36c9c6ead504.jpg[/atsimg]

For more information on the image posted above visit AIA - Atmospheric Imaging Assembly , which is just a small part of the SDO.

[edit on 21-4-2010 by samureyed]

reply to post by samureyed


Cool image! It looks very similar to this one (from the source page of my 2 year old thread):

cache.boston.com...

Different, but similar.

reply to post by Aggie Man


Your right it does! to be honest im not sure on the exact specifics of that image, but it was cool looking haha. Check out the link I provided though, it gives examples of the AIA's different imagery capabilities, which deal with the atmosphere and corona of the sun

Keep in mind that the AIA is just one portion of the SDO, there are also many other parts that will produce images and information on other aspects of the sun, such as HMI and EVE.

Overall the SDO looks to be a very informative tool in learning about our sun. Time will tell.

Once again, I'm confused - the video says it will be the highest resolution ever, but the pictures posted above are nowhere near this:

www.wired.com...

Am I missing the point of the OP? The video link says it was the highest resolution. I'm thinking that it is actually a 'better" resolution based on "frequencies"??

Phage, where are you buddy?