The Sun, closer than ever

2010/04/22 Aulestiarte Lete, Izaro - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Teknologia
• Astronomia

What you see here is one of the first images obtained by the solar telescope SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory). NASA launched the SDO in February and has now launched the first fruits of the spacecraft's work. Besides spectacular, the images are very useful for scientists to better understand the behavior of our Sun.

In some images you can see the details of the material expelled by sunspots and in others you can see the close-up of the activity on the surface of the star. In addition, the observatory has made the first high-resolution measurements of solar storms in a wide range of ultraviolet wavelengths.

Specifically, what you can see here is the image taken at various wavelengths of the ultraviolet of the entire disk extracted in the sun on March 30. False colors indicate several gas temperatures: red about 60,000 degrees Kelvin and blue and green hotter, more than a million degrees Kelvin.

Photo: ANDÉN