Sun
ID: 4963
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) operates in a geosynchronous orbit around Earth to obtain a continuous view of the Sun. The particular instrument in this visualization records imagery in the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum at wavelengths normally absorbed by Earth's atmosphere - so we need to observe them from space.
This movie was generated as a test case for a new movie pipeline for SDO, here's SDO AIA 171A imagery, sampled every two minutes for 50 days (April 12 through June 3, 2014), resulting in 30 minutes of continuous play (at 20 frames per second).
There are a number of missing single missing datasets - mostly calibration and dark-frames. However there are a few larger gaps in the series, documented here:
Many telescopes, especially reflecting telescopes such as the ones used on SDO (Wikipedia), have internal structures that support various optical components. These components can result in incoming light being scattered to other parts of the image. This can appear in the image as a faint haze, brightening dark areas and dimming bright areas. The point-spread function (Wikipedia) is a measure of how light that would normally be received by a single camera pixel, gets scattered onto other pixels. This is often seen as the "spikes" seen in images of bright stars. For SDO, it manifests as a double-X shape centered over a bright flare (see Sun Emits Third Solar Flare in Two Days). The effect of this scattered light can be computed, and removed, by a process called deconvolution (Wikipedia). This is often a very compute-intensive process which can be sped up by using a computers graphics-processing unit (GPU) for the computation.
Fifty Days of Continuous Sun from Solar Dynamics Observatory (171A filter)
This movie was generated as a test case for a new movie pipeline for SDO, here's SDO AIA 171A imagery, sampled every two minutes for 50 days (April 12 through June 3, 2014), resulting in 30 minutes of continuous play (at 20 frames per second).
| start frame | end frame | total missing | Start time (TAI) | End time (TAI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2766 | 2770 | 5 | 2014-04-15T20:12:00.000 | 2014-04-15T20:20:00.000 |
| 7801 | 7803 | 3 | 2014-04-22T20:02:00.000 | 2014-04-22T20:06:00.000 |
| 7806 | 7808 | 3 | 2014-04-22T20:12:00.000 | 2014-04-22T20:16:00.000 |
| 8317 | 8401 | 85 | 2014-04-23T13:14:00.000 | 2014-04-23T16:02:00.000 |
| 8414 | 8496 | 83 | 2014-04-23T16:28:00.000 | 2014-04-23T19:12:00.000 |
| 12846 | 12850 | 5 | 2014-04-29T20:12:00.000 | 2014-04-29T20:20:00.000 |
| 17881 | 17883 | 3 | 2014-05-06T20:02:00.000 | 2014-05-06T20:06:00.000 |
| 17886 | 17888 | 3 | 2014-05-06T20:12:00.000 | 2014-05-06T20:16:00.000 |
| 22926 | 22930 | 5 | 2014-05-13T20:12:00.000 | 2014-05-13T20:20:00.000 |
| 27961 | 27963 | 3 | 2014-05-20T20:02:00.000 | 2014-05-20T20:06:00.000 |
| 27966 | 27968 | 3 | 2014-05-20T20:12:00.000 | 2014-05-20T20:16:00.000 |
| 30080 | 30135 | 56 | 2014-05-23T18:40:00.000 | 2014-05-23T20:30:00.000 |
| 33006 | 33010 | 5 | 2014-05-27T20:12:00.000 | 2014-05-27T20:20:00.000 |
| 38041 | 38043 | 3 | 2014-06-03T20:02:00.000 | 2014-06-03T20:06:00.000 |
| 38046 | 38048 | 3 | 2014-06-03T20:12:00.000 | 2014-06-03T20:16:00.000 |
What is the PSF (Point Spread-Function)?
Many telescopes, especially reflecting telescopes such as the ones used on SDO (Wikipedia), have internal structures that support various optical components. These components can result in incoming light being scattered to other parts of the image. This can appear in the image as a faint haze, brightening dark areas and dimming bright areas. The point-spread function (Wikipedia) is a measure of how light that would normally be received by a single camera pixel, gets scattered onto other pixels. This is often seen as the "spikes" seen in images of bright stars. For SDO, it manifests as a double-X shape centered over a bright flare (see Sun Emits Third Solar Flare in Two Days). The effect of this scattered light can be computed, and removed, by a process called deconvolution (Wikipedia). This is often a very compute-intensive process which can be sped up by using a computers graphics-processing unit (GPU) for the computation.
Visualization Credits
Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Visualizer
Scott Wiessinger (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Lead Producer
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Scott Wiessinger (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Lead Producer
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
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4963
Mission:
SDO
Data Used:
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:
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Solar Ultraviolet
SVS >> SDO
SVS >> Solar Dynamics Observatory
SVS >> Heliophysics
SVS >> Ultraviolet Imagery
SVS >> Corona
NASA Science >> Sun
SVS >> Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging
SVS >> EUV Imaging
SVS >> Point-Spread-Function (PSF)
SVS >> Solar Cycle 24
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4963
Mission:
SDO
Data Used:
SDO/AIA/171 Filter also referred to as: AIA 171
JOINT SCIENCE OPERATIONS CENTER - 2014-04-12T00:00:00 to 2014-06-03T23:57:59Keywords:
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Solar Ultraviolet
SVS >> SDO
SVS >> Solar Dynamics Observatory
SVS >> Heliophysics
SVS >> Ultraviolet Imagery
SVS >> Corona
NASA Science >> Sun
SVS >> Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging
SVS >> EUV Imaging
SVS >> Point-Spread-Function (PSF)
SVS >> Solar Cycle 24
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0
