Sun  ID: 4776

Ten Years of Solar Dynamics Observatory

Here we present a continuous run of data from the AIA instrument 171 angstrom filter aboard Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Compiling one photo every hour, the movie condenses a decade of the Sun (June 2, 2010-June 1, 2020) into an almost 49 minute time lapse, where every second corresponds to 30 hours of SDO data.

There's a number of phenomema observed:
  • Earth eclipses: usually occur in February-March and August-September each year.
  • Lunar transits: We see the lunar disk block out the Sun
  • Instrument repointings for calibration purposes

Naturally this movie includes a number of events that have been explored previously:
Interesting physical features:
  • In October and November 2014, a large helmet streamer is visible extremely high above the solar limb. You can still observe it above the solar limb as it moves across the far-side of the Sun.

At various times the AIA instrument failed to collect data resulting in some large data gaps appearing in this visualization as black frames.
  • April 1, 2015: about 8 hours
  • May 13, 2015: about 6 hours
  • December 26, 2015: about 27 hours
  • August 2, 2016: about 8 days
  • April 30, 2017: about a day
  • June 28, 2018: about 18 hours
 

Used Elsewhere In


Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Visualizer
William D. Pesnell (NASA/GSFC): Lead Scientist
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Lead Producer
Mara Johnson-Groh (Wyle Information Systems): Lead Writer
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4776

Mission:
SDO

Data Used:
SDO/AIA/171 Filter also referred to as: AIA 171
JOINT SCIENCE OPERATIONS CENTER
Heliophysics Event Knowledgebase also referred to as: HEK
Event List - LMSAL
Heliophysics Event Knowledgebase
Solar Dynamics Observatory/Spacecraft Events also referred to as: Spacecraft Operations
Event List - JSOC
SDO Events Calendar
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Keywords:
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> SDO
SVS >> Solar Dynamics Observatory
SVS >> Heliophysics
SVS >> Ultraviolet Imagery
SVS >> Corona
NASA Science >> Sun
SVS >> EUV Imaging