The Solar Dynamics Observatory 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. Dean Pesnell, the SDO Project Scientist, explains the science that will be done using NASA's SDO spacecraft.

SDO is getting ready for launch! Learn more: http://www.nasa.gov/sdo

Dean Pesnell, the SDO Project Scientist, explains how the the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) instrument will allow us to better measure solar irradiance in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths. This type of irradiance, which is absorbed completely by Earth's upper atmosphere, can be dangerous to astronauts and electronics in space.

Dean Pesnell, the SDO Project Scientist, explains how the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument will allow us to see activity inside the sun and even on the other side of the sun.

Avalanche! The Incredible Data Stream of SDO


Mission planners are bracing themselves -- not for rocks or snow, but an avalanche of data.

"SDO will beam back 150 million bits of data per second, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," says Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. That’s almost 50 times more science data than any other mission in NASA history. "It's like downloading 500,000 iTunes a day."

SDO is on a mission to study the sun in unprecedented detail. Onboard telescopes will scrutinize sunspots and solar flares using more pixels and colors than any other observatory in the history of solar physics. And SDO will reveal the sun’s hidden secrets in a prodigious rush of pictures.

"SDO is going to send us images ten times better than high definition television," says Pesnell, the project scientist for the new mission. A typical HDTV screen has 720 by 1280 pixels; SDO's images will have almost four times that number in the horizontal direction and five times in the vertical. “The pixel count is comparable to an IMAX movie -- an IMAX filled with the raging sun, 24 hours a day."



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How is NASA planning to get fantastic, comprehensive images of the Sun without damage to the agency cornea? Quite simply, the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO.)

Jammed with high tech instruments such as the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA,) EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI,) SDO will provide over a terabyte of solar data every day.

Scheduled for an upcoming winter launch is a new observatory to study the suns influence on Earth and the space around with the use of several instruments studying our star simultaneously on multiple wavelengths.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will provide a new eye on the sun that will deliver solar images with 10 times better resolution than high-definition television. This mission will zoom in on the cause of severe space weather—solar activity such as sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections.

Space weather can pose a threat to astronauts as well as to aircraft crews flying over Earths northern and southern polar regions—and thats just the tip of the iceberg. Satellite communications, navigation systems, and electrical power to our homes can all be disrupted by magnetic storms triggered by solar activity.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is the first mission to be launched for NASAs Living With a Star (LWS) program. The goal of the LWS program is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to effectively address those aspects of the sun and solar system that directly affect life and society.

Pre-launch coverage of today's Solar Dynamics Observatory launch [15:00 UTC] has just started on NASA TV - www.nasa.gov/ntv

Launch scrubbed today because of gusty winds. . .

. . . NASA will try again tomorrow.

Star Trackers - on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Autonomous Star Trackers provide attitude data and motion rate of the satellite. They are based on a radiation hardened design and proprietary algorithms that ensure accurate and robust 3-axes attitude determination. These same instruments most recently flew onboard NASA's Messenger and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions.

SDO Project Scientist Dean Pesnell explains how the SDO's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument suite will allow us to take pictures of the sun at multiple temperatures and at resolutions never before seen.

This animation follows the Solar Dynamics Observatory from its launch at pad 41A from Kennedy Space Center through deployment.

Solar Science - Dr. Alan Title (PI AIA on SDO) and Susan Buhr


As part of the The Dynamics of the Sun Media Workshop, from October 23th- 25th, 2009 in Boulder, Colorado, The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) put together interview with solar scientists. Dr. Alan Title is the PI of AIA, one of the instruments on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).

This compilation of video shows some of the first imagery and data sent back from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Most of the imagery comes from SDO's AIA instrument, and different colors are used to represent different temperatures, a common technique for observing solar features. SDO sees the entire disk of the Sun in extremely high spacial and temporal resolution and this allows scientists to zoom in on notable events like flares, waves, and sunspots. Enjoy the imagery and post in the comments the parts you found most captivating.

The corona is a wispy plasma envelope extending millions of miles above the Sun's surface. Why the tenuous atmosphere above the sun is hotter than the actual surface has remained a mystery. One generic explanation has been that magnetic fields must be involved, but getting beyond this superficial understanding has required more detailed observations.

New solar missions, designed to take the surprises out of living next to a star, are reaching the point where they have the spatial and temporal resolution to observe previously hidden solar phenomena. These observations are revealing a compelling link between the coronal plasma that is heated to millions of degrees and ubiquitous, ephemeral jets that reach into corona.

A paper published in Science reports on observations obtained with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and NASA’s Focal Plane Package for the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on the Japanese Hinode satellite. Beyond good science, the recently launched SDO satellite has been taking some fabulous pictures of our Sun.


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This movie starts at 11:35 UT on March 24, 2011 and goes through midnight. It shows the active area 1176 - and active it was. We are seeing several flares; B, C and M classes.

This movie starts at 11:35 UT on March 24, 2011 and goes through midnight. It shows the active area 1176 - and active it was. We are seeing several flares; B, C and M classes.

NASA Satellite Spots New Behemoth Sunspot


NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has spotted one of the largest new sunspots to appear on the surface of the sun in years. It is nearly 25,000 miles wide, or more than three times larger than the Earth. The enormous sunspot was seen rotating over the sun’s northeastern limb on Nov. 3.

Any backyard astronomers with solar telescopes should be able to see the gigantic sunspot over the next few days.

Sunspots are relatively cool regions on the sun’s surface that are caused by strong magnetic activity. They are usually associated with eruptions such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, events in which the sun spews out enormous amounts of energy and charged particles that may interfere with communications satellites in Earth orbit.

NASA reported that the region has already experienced about eight solar flares, including an M-class flare, the second-largest type of solar flare, on Nov. 2. The agency also said that X-class flares are possible, even up to X10 or greater events, the largest possible solar flares.


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A solar prominence erupted on June 18th, 2012 to some resembling the terrifying creature from the Alien movie series. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory team dubbed the phenomenon the Alien Prometheus Prominence.

For more check out http://galacticinformer.blogspot.com/