NASA Released a Year-Long Timelapse Video of the Sun

NASA released a year-long timelapse video of the sun as it was captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory from January 1^st 2015 to January 28^th 2016. This was done as a celebration of the satellite’s sixth year in space too. The mesmerizing video depicts the activity on the surface of the scorching star of our solar system as seen through SDO’s various light spectrums as it orbits around our planet.

The video was released in Ultra HD resolution and features rich and golden energy streaks and solar flares seeping out of the surface of the sun and the boiling temperature scorching the object that we cannot even look at in the sky, even if we are 149.6 million kilometers away from it. The colors that we see in the video are a result of looking at the sun in the high ultra-violet radiation range at 171 angstroms, something that cannot be seen with the human eye.

This has all been done as an attempt for scientists to study the sun’s magnetic field and attempt to understand all of the complicated movements that were spotted on the star’s surface. In order to make that possible, the Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a shot of the sun every 12 seconds for an entire year and through 10 different wavelengths.

A close inspection to the staggering images displayed in the video and there are multiple interesting facts that you may not have known before regarding the sun of our solar system. Clear depiction of things such as a sun filament can be spotted in the footage, showing just how the sun’s magnetic field is capable of holding up very large regions of very dense and cool gases.

All around the surface of the sun you can spot a huge amount of activity, manifesting as magnetic loops of different shapes and sizes. At times, these loops explode and erupt into giant coronal mass ejections that result in staggering amounts of magnetic energy being released into the solar system.

If the sun was a planet, a day would take nearly an Earth month, meaning that it takes roughly 25 days for a whole 360 degree rotation to complete. The flashes and jittery movements that can sometimes be spotted in the video are not artistic effects of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. When the sun disappears from view marks the moments when SDO’s vision is blocked by the movement of the Earth, eclipsing the entire star.

The image jumping occasionally is the SDO moving around and pointing in different directions in order to calibrate the sensors of the cameras that were used in the process.

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Roxanne Briean

I am a geek, a gamer and a writer. I have always been fascinated with the online community. At the moment I work as a full-time writer and study interior design. When I'm not scouring the net in search of interesting new gadgets and software I spend my time in MOBAs or drawing.