Solar Dynamic Observatory Powered Up

Back in February we Launched the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) aboard an Atlas V. I spent a bunch of time over the past two years working on this mission, so it is really cool to see some of the science that it is now doing. The first images came back from SDO yesterday. Never before have we had so much data for helio science.

SDO has a suite of three state of the art instruments that will rewrite heliophysics theory. Imagery from Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (above) shows surface eruptions emitting strings of plasma into the solar atmosphere and sending powerful shock waves across the sun. The AIA features four telescopes designed to be sensitive at different temperatures, producing information on solar heat flux. Another instrument, the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, will probe the Sun's interior to track developing solar storms from their origins deep inside the Sun to the violent eruptions at the surface. Finally, The EVE ultraviolet instrument studies space weather, the link between the Sun and the Earth that can affect communications and navigation signals. While the satellite's other two instruments study the formation of storms on the sun, EVE directly measures how they impact Earth.