Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — The power and beauty of the sun is on display in two captivating videos released by NASA Thursday.
A time-lapse showcasing five years of the sun, plus another video of highlights, was published in honor of the five-year anniversary of NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. So far, the observatory has captured 200 million images, according to NASA.
“Capturing an image more than once per second, SDO has provided an unprecedentedly clear picture of how massive explosions on the sun grow and erupt ever since its launch on Feb. 11, 2010,” NASA wrote. “The imagery is also captivating, allowing one to watch the constant ballet of solar material through the sun's atmosphere, the corona.”
The time-lapse, which includes one frame from every eight hours between June 2010 and Feb. 8, is shown is various wavelengths. As a result, the sun appears in multiple brilliant colors.
The video of highlights is visually stunning and lets viewers witness “giant clouds of solar material hurled out into space, the dance of giant loops hovering in the corona, and huge sunspots growing and shrinking on the sun’s surface.”
The Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft is operated and managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. SDO’s Atmospheric Imaging Assembly Instrument recently captured its 100 millionth image.
