SDO Video Toolkit

The Trebuchet eruption (upper left) as seen in the SDO AIA 304 angstrom filter. This is probably one of the more popular views of the event.

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A moderate solar flare was emitted by the sun on July 19, 2012. At 5:58 UTC it peaked at M7.7 on the flare scale, which makes it fairly powerful, but still much weaker than X-class flares, which are the largest. What made this particular event so noteworthy was the associated activity in the sun's corona. For the next day, hot plasma in corona cooled and condensed along the strong magnetic fields of the region that produced the flare. Magnetic fields are invisible, but the plasma is very obvious in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength of 304 angstroms, which highlights material at a temperature of about 50,000 Kelvin. This plasma is attracted to the magnetic fields and outlines them very clearly as it slowly falls back to the solar surface. This process of condensing plasma falling to the surface is called coronal rain.

The footage in this video was collected by the Solar Dynamics Observatory's AIA instrument. SDO collected one frame every 12 seconds.

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On August 31, 2012 a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, with a glancing blow. causing aurora to appear on the night of Monday, September 3.

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On September 16, 2012 the sun had a beautiful prominence (see Wikipedia) that slowly twisted and dissipated over several hours. It was captured in 304 angstrom light by the Solar Dynamics Observatory's AIA instrument at 4k resolution and 12s imaging cadence. The prominence was immediately followed by one of the many eclipses that SDO experiences during September, when its orbit places the Earth between it and the sun.

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The sun emitted an X1.8-class solar flare, peaking at 7:24 p.m. EST on Dec. 19, 2014. This image blends two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolent light, 171 (gold) and 131 (purple).

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The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 3:01 p.m. EDT on Oct. 2, 2014.

This flare is classified as an M7.3 flare. M-class flares are one-tenth as powerful as the most powerful flares, which are designated X-class flares. This clip uses a blend of 304 and 171 angstrom light.

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Footage of a flaring region from March 6, 2012. This shot begins shortly after an X5.4 flare. It is 171 angstrom light at 12 second cadence.

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Footage of a "twister" on the Sun from July 19, 2012. Plasma twists and rises in a way that makes it resemble a tornado on Earth. It is 171 angstrom light at 12 second cadence.

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On June 20, 2013, at 11:24 p.m., the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space. This footage is blend of 171 and 304 angstrom light at 12 second cadence.

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The flow of plasma from one part of an active region to another. 304 angstrom imagery at 12 second cadence.

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A magnetic filament of solar material erupted on the sun in late September, breaking the quiet conditions in a spectacular fashion. The 200,000 mile long filament ripped through the sun's atmosphere, the corona, leaving behind what looks like a canyon of fire. The glowing canyon traces the channel where magnetic fields held the filament aloft before the explosion. This sequence is 171 angstrom light at 36 second cadence.

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Many bright active regions and wispy loops of plasma appear in the clip of 171 angstrom light.

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On June 7, 2011, an M-2 flare occurred on the Sun which released a very large coronal mass ejection (CME). Much of the ejected material is much cooler (less than about 80,000K) and therefore appears dark against the brighter solar disk.

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Magnetic fields emerge from the Sun and twist and snap, causing a moderate solar flare. This shot is blend of 171 and 131 angstrom light at 12 second cadence. 131 shows the hottest regions of the Sun.

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A twisting loop of plasma captured in 171 angstrom light in October 2013.

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A leisurely view in the SDO Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) of a very large sunspot group transiting the solar disk in October of 2014. This spot was the visible light component of the active region cataloged as NOAA 12192.

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On the final day of 2012, the sun presented a beautiful twisting prominence that rose high into the corona for about 3 hours. It was most visible in extreme ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 304 angstroms. This wavelength highlights plasma with temperatures of around 50,000 Kelvin. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the event at 4k resolution and a high imaging cadence of one image every 12 seconds.

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The Sun enters the frame in visible light and transitions to the ultraviolet wavelength of 304 angstroms, where the chromosphere and hotter, rippling plasma become visible.

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Occasionally, during SDO's constant vigil watching the Sun, the Earth moves into the way, blocking the view. Earth's atmosphere causes a fuzzy region of darkness that creeps across the solar disk until the Sun is completely blocked for a period of time. This sequence is in 304 angstrom light.

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