(via APOD: 2013 April 26 - A Year on the Sun)
Explanation: Our solar system’s miasma of incandescent plasma, the Sun may look a little scary here. The picture is a composite of 25 images recorded in extreme ultraviolet light by the orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory between April 16, 2012 and April 15, 2013. The particular wavelength of light, 171 angstroms, shows emission from highly ionized iron atoms in the solar corona at a characteristic temperatures of about 600,000 kelvins (about 1 million degrees F). Girdling both sides of the equator during approach to maximum in the 11-year solar cycle, the solar active regions are laced with bright loops and arcs along magnetic field lines. Of course, a more familiar visible light view would show the bright active regions as groups of dark sunspots. Three years of Solar Dynamics Observatory images are compressed into this short video.
Comparing Martian rovers
Horsehead Nebula by NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr.
Image released April 19, 2013. Astronomers have used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new, infrared light to mark the 23rd anniversary of the famous observatory’s launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. Looking like an apparition rising from whitecaps of interstellar foam, the iconic Horsehead Nebula has graced astronomy books ever since its discovery more than a century ago. The nebula is a favorite target for amateur and professional astronomers. It is shadowy in optical light. It appears transparent and ethereal when seen at infrared wavelengths. The rich tapestry of the Horsehead Nebula pops out against the backdrop of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies that easily are visible in infrared light. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
Solar Scientist Confirm Existence of Flux Ropes on the Sun by NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr.
Caption: This is an image of magnetic loops on the sun, captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). It has been processed to highlight the edges of each loop to make the structure more clear. A series of loops such as this is known as a flux rope, and these lie at the heart of eruptions on the sun known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs.) This is the first time scientists were able to discern the timing of a flux rope’s formation. (SDO AIA 131 and 171 difference blended image of flux ropes during CME.)
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO
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On July 18, 2012, a fairly small explosion of light burst off the lower right limb of the sun. Such flares often come with an associated eruption of solar material, known as a coronal mass ejection or CME – but this one did not. Something interesting did happen, however. Magnetic field lines in this area of the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, began to twist and kink, generating the hottest solar material – a charged gas called plasma – to trace out the newly-formed slinky shape. The plasma glowed brightly in extreme ultraviolet images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) aboard NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and scientists were able to watch for the first time the very formation of something they had long theorized was at the heart of many eruptive events on the sun: a flux rope.
Eight hours later, on July 19, the same region flared again. This time the flux rope’s connection to the sun was severed, and the magnetic fields escaped into space, dragging billions of tons of solar material along for the ride — a classic CME.
“Seeing this structure was amazing,” says Angelos Vourlidas, a solar scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. “It looks exactly like the cartoon sketches theorists have been drawing of flux ropes since the 1970s. It was a series of figure eights lined up to look like a giant slinky on the sun.” To read more about this new discovery go to: 1.usa.gov/14UHsTt
Solar Scientist Confirm Existence of Flux Ropes on the Sun by NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr.
Caption: This is a video of magnetic loops on the sun, captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. It has been processed to highlight the edges of each loop to make the structure more clear. A series of loops such as this is known as a flux rope, and these lie at the heart of eruptions on the sun known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs.) This is the first time scientists were able to discern the timing of a flux rope’s formation. (Blended 131 and 171 angstrom light view of flux rope formation and eruption.)
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO
——
On July 18, 2012, a fairly small explosion of light burst off the lower right limb of the sun. Such flares often come with an associated eruption of solar material, known as a coronal mass ejection or CME – but this one did not. Something interesting did happen, however. Magnetic field lines in this area of the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, began to twist and kink, generating the hottest solar material – a charged gas called plasma – to trace out the newly-formed slinky shape. The plasma glowed brightly in extreme ultraviolet images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) aboard NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and scientists were able to watch for the first time the very formation of something they had long theorized was at the heart of many eruptive events on the sun: a flux rope.
Eight hours later, on July 19, the same region flared again. This time the flux rope’s connection to the sun was severed, and the magnetic fields escaped into space, dragging billions of tons of solar material along for the ride — a classic CME.
“Seeing this structure was amazing,” says Angelos Vourlidas, a solar scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. “It looks exactly like the cartoon sketches theorists have been drawing of flux ropes since the 1970s. It was a series of figure eights lined up to look like a giant slinky on the sun.” To read more about this new discovery go to: 1.usa.gov/14UHsTt
VISIONS: Seeing the Aurora in a New Light by NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr.
On the night of Feb. 6, 2013, a green aurora appeared in the Alaskan night sky. Conditions were finally right to launch VISIONS.
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Chris Perry
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To read more about the VISIONS mission go to: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/visions-aurora.html
VISIONS: Seeing the Aurora in a New Light
A team of NASA scientists arrived in Poker Flats, Alaska at the end of January, 2013. The team is patiently waiting for the exotic red and green glow of an aurora to illuminate the sky. Instead of simply admiring the view, this group from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center of Greenbelt, Md., and The Aerospace Corporation of El Segundo, Calif. will launch a sounding rocket up through the Northern Lights. The rocket could launch as early as the night of Feb. 2, 2013, but the team has a two-week window in order to find the perfect launch conditions.
Armed with a series of instruments developed specifically for this mission, the VISIONS (VISualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral atom imaging during a Substorm) rocket will soar high through the arctic sky to study the auroral wind, which is a strong but intermittent stream of oxygen atoms from Earth’s atmosphere into outer space. The rocket will survive only fifteen minutes before splashing down in the Arctic Ocean, but the information it obtains will provide answers to some long-standing questions.
VISIONS is studying how oxygen atoms leave Earth’s atmosphere under the influence of the aurora. Most of the atmosphere is bound by Earth’s gravity, but a small portion of it gets heated enough by the aurora that it can break free, flowing outwards until it reaches near-Earth space. The atoms that form this wind initially travel at about 300 miles per hour — only one percent of the speed needed to overcome gravity and leave Earth’s atmosphere.
The principal investigator for VISIONS, Goddard’s Doug Rowland is providing images while the team prepares for launch.
VISIONS is a partnership between NASA Goddard and the Aerospace Corporation of El Segundo, Calif. The sounding rocket motors and payload support systems are provided by NASA Wallops Flight Facility, including NSROC, the NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract. The Poker Flat Research Range is operated by the University of Alaska under contract to NASA.
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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Filament Blasting Into Space [video] by NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr.
Via Flickr:
A strand of solar filament broke away from the Sun and out into space (Jan. 23, 2013). In the STEREO (Behind) spacecraft image, the green Sun (false color) viewed in extreme UV light has been superimposed on the dark disk of the COR1 coronagraph that views activity in the Sun’s corona. Leading the way was the smooth front of a coronal mass ejection, followed by the double strands of plasma, seen in bright, then fainter white as they expand into space. Filaments are unstable clouds of cooler gases that are tethered not far above the Sun. They often break apart as seen here. The movie covers 12 hours of activity.
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Stereo
NASA image use policy.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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