The sun as you've never seen it before
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}May 12, 2013: This blend of two images taken by NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a solar eruption. One image shows light in the 171-angstrom wavelength, the other in 131 angstroms. Scientists say the Mothers Day solar flare was the strongest of the year and occurred on the side of the sun that faced away from Earth. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/04/12/sun-unleashes-biggest-solar-flare-year-yet/">Read more</a> (AP Photo/NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory)
This full-disk view of the sun was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on April 11, 2013, during the second strongest solar flare of 2013. (NASA/SDO)
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite captured this photo of an X-class solar flare unleashed from the sun Oct. 22, 2012. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/23/major-solar-flare-erupts-from-sun/">Read more</a> (SDO/NASA)
July 12, 2012: An X-1.4 class flare erupted from the center of the sun, the second major solar storm to erupt from our star in less than a week. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/07/12/major-solar-flare-erupts-from-giant-sunspot/">Read more</a> (NASA/SDO/AIA)
Jan. 19, 2012: A powerful M2-class solar flare erupts from the sun in this image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. (NASA/SDO)
March 6, 2012: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captures the sun as it unleashed an X5.4-class solar flare -- the bright spot in the upper left. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/03/07/sun-fires-off-2-huge-solar-flares-could-impact-weather-on-earth/">Read more</a> (NASA/SD)
NASA's SDO spacecraft caught this image of an X-class solar flare on March 7, 2012. (NASA/SDO)
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory snapped this X-ray photo of the Sun early in the morning of Sunday, August 1st. The dark arc near the top right edge of the image is a filament of plasma blasting off the surface -- part of the coronal mass ejection. The bright region is an unassociated solar flare. When particles from the eruption reached the Earth, they triggered a brilliant auroral display known as the Northern Lights. (NASA)
An extreme ultraviolet image of the sun taken by Space Dynamics Observatory on March 30, 2010. Reds are relatively cool (about 107,540 Fahrenheit); blues and greens are hotter (greater than 1.8 million Fahrenheit). <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/446589main_fulldiskmulticolor-orig_full.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Click here to see the hi-resolution image from NASA.</b></a> (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
An image of the sun moments before a twisting solar prominence erupts on March 30, 2010. Images and videos taken by the SDO give evidence of the dynamic sun never before seen by NASA's scientists. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nasa.gov/mov/445814main_Pesnell_7-Prominence-H264.mov"><b>Click here to see the full video from NASA.</b></a> (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
An image of a twisting solar prominence eruption taken on March 30, 2010. Images and videos taken by the SDO give evidence of the dynamic sun never before seen by NASA's scientists. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nasa.gov/mov/445814main_Pesnell_7-Prominence-H264.mov"><b>Click here to see the full video from NASA.</b></a> (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
Launched on Feb. 11, 2010, the SDO is the most advanced spacecraft ever designed to study the sun. During its five-year mission, it will examine the sun's magnetic field and also provide a better understanding of the role the sun plays in Earth's atmospheric chemistry and climate. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
SDO will determine how the sun's magnetic field is generated, structured and converted into violent solar events such as turbulent solar wind, solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These immense clouds of material, when directed toward Earth, can cause large magnetic storms in our planet’s magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
One of the first images captured by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. After the devices used to translate the light cast off by the sun cooled down, this image was taken of a solar eruption on March 30, one of the first visible events. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nasa.gov/mov/445812main_Pesnell_6-AIA-3WavelengthDissolve-H264.mov"><b>Click here to see the full video from NASA.</b></a> (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
One of the first images captured by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. After the devices used to translate the light cast off by the sun cooled down, this image was taken of a solar eruption on March 30, one of the first visible events. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nasa.gov/mov/445812main_Pesnell_6-AIA-3WavelengthDissolve-H264.mov"><b>Click here to see the full video from NASA.</b></a> (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
This image is part a series from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly showing regions of heating and cooling, ranging in temperature from about 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit to 4.7 million degrees Fahrenheit. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
An extreme ultraviolet image of the sun taken by the SDO satellite on March 30 shows areas of heating and cooling on the sun. Reds are relatively cool (about 107,540 Fahrenheit); blues and greens are hotter (greater than 1.8 million Fahrenheit). (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said the new satellite shows a view of the sun he hasn't seen in over 40 years of research. "SDO will change our understanding of the sun and its processes, which affect our lives and society. This mission will have a huge impact on science, similar to the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on modern astrophysics.” (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
Space weather has been recognized as a cause of technological problems since the invention of the telegraph in the 19th century. These events produce disturbances in electromagnetic fields on Earth that can induce extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines and causing widespread blackouts. And SDO can help measure those disturbances far more accurately than ever before. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
An extreme ultraviolet image of the sun taken by the SDO satellite on March 30 shows areas of heating and cooling on the sun. Reds are relatively cool (about 107,540 Fahrenheit); blues and greens are hotter (greater than 1.8 million Fahrenheit). (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said the new satellite shows a view of the sun he hasn't seen in over 40 years of research. "SDO will change our understanding of the sun and its processes, which affect our lives and society. This mission will have a huge impact on science, similar to the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on modern astrophysics.” (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)
Space weather has been recognized as a cause of technological problems since the invention of the telegraph in the 19th century. These events produce disturbances in electromagnetic fields on Earth that can induce extreme currents in wires, disrupting power lines and causing widespread blackouts. And SDO can help measure those disturbances far more accurately than ever before. (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio)