SDO's Ultra-high Definition View of 2012 Venus Transit

Quick link to associated B-ROLLQuick link to soundbites with Giada Arney / DAVINCI Deputy Principal InvestigatorQuick link to soundbites with Jim Garvin / DAVINCI Principal Investigator Associated b-roll for Venus Mars conjunction story Short soundbites with Giada Arney / DAVINCI Deputy Principal InvestigatorClick HERE for bio.TRT: 3:06. Transcript with timecodes and a transcript in paragragraph form are both available under the download button. Short soundbites with Jim Garvin / DAVINCI Principal Investigator. Click here for BIO.TRT: 2:56. Transcript with timecodes and a transcript in paragragraph form are both available under the download button. Skywatchers are in for a treat next week! During the month of July, Earth’s closest neighbors - Venus and Mars - have been getting ever-closer together in the night sky. On the night of July 12th, into the early hours of the 13th, Venus and Mars will be at their closest. It’s called a planetary conjunction, and they’ll be easily visible in the same field of view despite being very far away from each other. Both Venus and Mars are targets for the next generation of space exploration, with new missions to study VENUS having recently been announced by NASA.DAVINCI Principal Investigator, Jim Garvin, and Deputy Principal Investigator Giada Arney provide a look into this astronomical event and the upcoming missions to study one of our nearest planetary neighbors.Suggested Questions:What does it mean when there’s a conjunction in the night sky?How can our viewers spot Venus and Mars?Venus has been quite a topic lately, can you tell us about the new missions NASA is sending to study it?Why do scientists want to study Venus?Where can our viewers go to learn more?Questions? Contact christina.b.mitchell@nasa.govParticipating Scientists:Jim Garvin / DAVINCI Principal InvestigatorGiada Arney / DAVINCI Deputy Principal Investigator** Introducing Quick Shots! **An innovative and easy way to download and use broadcast-ready NASA stories, b-roll, and canned interviews by media, social media influencers, and educators across the world. Think news gathering service, but for NASA stories. Everyone is busy these days so we want to make it easy for interesting, visually-driven NASA material to be downloadable and primed for use. Sometimes you just want to run a short voiceover or voiceover with a soundbite but don’t have time to search through mountains of material. NASA Quick Shots has you covered.Contact michelle.z.handleman@nasa.gov and christina.b.mitchell@nasa.gov for more information. For More InformationSee [https://www.nasa.gov/venus](https://www.nasa.gov/venus) Related pages

The Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of Mercury transiting across the sun on May 9, 2016. B-roll will be added on Friday May 6 NASA scientist Dr. Stephen Rinehart talks about the May 9 Mercury transit, why transits are important and how scientists are using transits in the search for exoplanets. Mercury transit Interview with NASA Scientist Dr. Alex Young NASA will broadcast a stunning view of Mercury on May 9 as it journeys across the sun. The event, known as a transit, occurs when Mercury passes directly between Earth and the sun. This rare phenomenon will cause Mercury to look like a black dot gliding across the sun’s face. Mercury’s last transit was in 2006, and it won’t happen again until 2019!Starting at 7:12 a.m. EDT, Mercury will spend more than seven hours travelling across the sun. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory will take the first near real time, ultra-high definition images ever for this event. This is also an opportunity for NASA scientists to fine tune the spacecraft’s cameras, using a method that can only be done during a transit. NASA scientists are available Monday, May 9 from 6:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. EDT to show your viewers amazing images of this event as it unfolds. Scientists will also share why transits are important, and how they’re being used to learn more about planets in our solar system—and beyond. Scientists have been using transits for hundreds of years to study the planets in our solar system. When a planet crosses in front of the sun, it causes the sun’s brightness to dim. Scientists can measure similar brightness dips from other stars to find planets orbiting them, and can calculate their sizes, how far away the planets are from their stars, and even get hints of what they’re made of. Upcoming NASA missions will watch for transits outside our solar system in order to find new planets, including some that could resemble Earth.****To book a window***Contact Claire Saravia – claire.g.desaravia@nasa.govSuggested questions: 1.Mercury is trekking across the sun today for the first time in 10 years. How can we see this transit?2.Why are transits so important to astronomers? 3.Why does NASA watch the sun?4.NASA is using the transit method to study planets beyond our solar system. What do we expect to learn from future missions doing this? 5.Where can we learn more? HD Satellite Coordinates for AMC9-K17: AMC-9 Ku-band Xp 17 Slot AB| 83.0 ° W Longitude | DL 12045.8 MHz | Horizontal Polarity | QPSK/DVB-S | FEC 3/4 | SR 13.235 Mbps | DR 18.2954 MHz | HD 720p | Format MPEG2 | Chroma Level 4:2:0 | Audio EmbeddedMercury Transit Gallery Page For More InformationSee [www.nasa.gov/transit](www.nasa.gov/transit) Related pages

Video of three years-worth of SDO data at a wavelength of 171 angstroms and then 4 different synchronized wavelengths: 171, 304, 193, and 4500. Information about the still image is below.Music: "A Lady's Errand of Love" - composed and performed by Martin LassFor complete transcript, click here. This version of SDO:Three Years in Three Minutes is extended and narrated by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center heliophysicist Alex Young. He highlights many interesting aspects of the video and points out several of the single-frame events that appear in it.For complete transcript, click here. This image, and the one at the top, is a composite of 25 separate images spanning the period of April 16, 2012 to April 15, 2013. It uses the SDO AIA wavelength of 171 angstroms and reveals the zones on the sun where active regions are most common during this part of the solar cycle. This version is widened to achieve a 16x9 aspect ratio.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO/S. Wiessinger This image, is a composite of 25 separate images spanning the period of April 16, 2012 to April 15, 2013. It uses the SDO AIA wavelength of 171 angstroms and reveals the zones on the sun where active regions are most common during this part of the solar cycle. This version maintains the original aspect ratio of the AIA instrument imagery.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO/S. Wiessinger This video shows the sun in the 171 angstrom wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. It covers a time period of June 2, 2010 to April 15, 2013 at a cadence of two frames per day, or one frame every 12 hours. Early in the sequence, SDO's coverage was intermittent, so not every day is represented. 171 angstrom light highlights material around 600,000 Kelvin and shows features in the upper transition region and quiet corona of the sun. The still image shows a partial eclipse of the sun by the moon from SDO's perspective. This video shows the sun in the 304 angstrom wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. It covers a time period of June 2, 2010 to April 15, 2013 at a cadence of one frame per day. Early in the sequence, SDO's coverage was intermittent, so not every day is represented. 304 angstrom light highlights material around 50,000 Kelvin and shows features in the transition region and chromosphere of the sun. The still shows a large prominence from Sept 15, 2010. This video shows the sun in the 171 angstrom wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. It covers a time period of June 2, 2010 to April 15, 2013 at a cadence of one frame per day. Early in the sequence, SDO's coverage was intermittent, so not every day is represented. 171 angstrom light highlights material around 600,000 Kelvin and shows features in the upper transition region and quiet corona of the sun. This video shows the sun in the 4500 angstrom wavelength of light. It covers a time period of June 2, 2010 to April 15, 2013 at a cadence of one frame per day. Early in the sequence, SDO's coverage was intermittent, so not every day is represented. 4500 angstrom light highlights material around 6,000 Kelvin and matches the visible light appearance of the sun. The layer of the sun visible in this wavelength is called the photosphere. This video shows the sun in the 193 angstrom wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. It covers a time period of June 2, 2010 to April 15, 2013 at a cadence of one frame per day. Early in the sequence, SDO's coverage was intermittent, so not every day is represented. 193 angstrom light highlights material around 1 million Kelvin and shows features in the corona and flare plasma. 193 also reveals dark areas called coronal holes where the high-speed solar wind originates. In the three years since it first provided images of the sun in the spring of 2010, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has had virtually unbroken coverage of the sun's rise toward solar maximum, the peak of solar activity in its regular 11-year cycle. This video shows those three years of the sun at a pace of two images per day. Each image is displayed for two frames at a 29.97 frame rate.SDO's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) captures a shot of the sun every 12 seconds in 10 different wavelengths. The images shown here are based on a wavelength of 171 angstroms, which is in the extreme ultraviolet range and shows solar material at around 600,000 Kelvin. In this wavelength it is easy to see the sun's 25-day rotation as well as how solar activity has increased over three years.During the course of the video, the sun subtly increases and decreases in apparent size. This is because the distance between the SDO spacecraft and the sun varies over time. The image is, however, remarkably consistent and stable despite the fact that SDO orbits the Earth at 6,876 miles per hour and the Earth orbits the sun at 67,062 miles per hour.Such stability is crucial for scientists, who use SDO to learn more about our closest star. These images have regularly caught solar flares and coronal mass ejections in the act, types of space weather that can send radiation and solar material toward Earth and interfere with satellites in space. SDO's glimpses into the violent dance on the sun help scientists understand what causes these giant explosions — with the hopes of some day improving our ability to predict this space weather.The four wavelength view at the end of the video shows light at 4500 angstroms, which is basically the visible light view of the sun, and reveals sunspots; light at 193 angstroms which highlights material at 1 million Kelvin and reveals more of the sun's corona; light at 304 angstroms which highlights material at around 50,000 Kelvin and shows features in the transition region and chromosphere of the sun; and light at 171 angstroms.Noteworthy events that appear briefly in the main sequence of this video:00:30;24 Partial eclipse by the moon00:31;16 Roll maneuver01:11;02 August 9, 2011 X6.9 Flare, currently the largest of this solar cycle01:28;07 Comet Lovejoy, December 15, 201101:42;29 Roll Maneuver01:51;07 Transit of Venus, June 5, 201202:28;13 Partial eclipse by the moonWatch this video on YouTube. For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/first-light-3rd.html](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/first-light-3rd.html) Related pages

The sun's greatest hits as captured by the Solar Dynamic Observatory from February 2012 to February 2013. Music: Mistake (Davide Rossi Re-Work - Instrumental) courtesy of Moby Gratis.For complete transcript, click here. Blended 131 angstrom and 171 angstrom images of July 19, 2012 flare and CME. Blended images in 304 and 171 angstrom wavelength light of August 31, 2012 prominence eruption and CME. December 31, 2012 prominence in 304 angstrom light. On Feb. 11, 2010, NASA launched an unprecedented solar observatory into space. The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) flew up on an Atlas V rocket, carrying instruments that scientists hoped would revolutionize observations of the sun. If all went according to plan, SDO would provide incredibly high-resolution data of the entire solar disk almost as quickly as once a second. When the science team released its first images in April of 2010, SDO's data exceeded everyone's hopes and expectations, providing stunningly detailed views of the sun. In the three years since then, SDO's images have continued to show breathtaking pictures and movies of eruptive events on the sun. Such imagery is more than just pretty, they are the very data that scientists study. By highlighting different wavelengths of light, scientists can track how material on the sun moves. Such movement, in turn, holds clues as to what causes these giant explosions, which, when Earth-directed, can disrupt technology in space. SDO is the first mission in a NASA's Living With a Star program, the goal of which is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to address those aspects of the sun-Earth system that directly affect our lives and society. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. built, operates, and manages the SDO spacecraft for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.SDO: Year One here.SDO: Year 2 here.Information about the individual clips used in this video is here.Watch this video on YouTube. For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/sdo-year3.html](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/sdo-year3.html) Related pages

Now for the good stuff! See unprecedented views of Venus crossing the sun. Venus appears as a perfect black dot in this collection of SDO images captured at multiple wavelengths. The NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory tracked Venus from May 31 to June 4 as the planet approached the sun. Venus crossed the left limb of the sun, seen here at 304 angstroms, between 6 and 7 p.m. EDT on June 5. Venus prepares to exit over the right side of the sun, shown here at 171 angstroms, following a transit of six and a half hours. Backlit by the sun, seen here at 193 angstroms, Venus completes its last transit until 2117. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/venus_images.html) Related pages

Video of approaching Venus Transit from LASCO C3 covering May 31 to midday June 4. Video of approaching Venus transit from LASCO C2 covering June 4 to midday June 5. The LASCO C2 and C3 coronographs on board the SOHO spacecraft have been watching the approach of Venus for its last solar transit until 2117.With coronagraphs, the Sun is being blocked by an occulting disk, seen here in blue, so that SOHO can observe the much fainter features in the Sun's corona. The actual size of the Sun is represented by the white disk. The transit of Venus begins tomorrow, June 5, at about 6pm Eastern Daylight Time, or about 10pm Universal Time. It will last approximately 6 hours. For More InformationSee [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/2012-venus-transit.html](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/2012-venus-transit.html) Related pages

This movie illustrates how the relative motions of the Earth and Venus in their orbits will produce the transit. Extremely high-resolution frames suitable for Hyperwall projection. This version also has the planet trails rendered thinner, a high-resolution background star field, and the model of the Earth fades in sooner. It was your last chance for the next 105 years.A transit is when a planet passes directly between the Sun and the Earth and we see the planet as a small dot moving slowly across the face of the Sun. A Venus transit occurred in 2004 (see Venus Transit from GOES/SXI). Prior to that it was 1882. The last Venus transit occurred on June 5-6, 2012 and the next one won't occur until 2117 (See the NASA Eclipse Web Site).To understand the significance of these events, it helps to know the history of how the Venus transits provided one of the first estimates of the size of the Solar System, and eventually the Universe (see A Brief History of the Transit of Venus).In this visualization, there are a few things which should be noted. 1) The camera view is NOT from anywhere on the surface of the Earth, but corresponds to an observer positioned along the Earth-Sun line, but over the north pole of the Earth. This causes the path of Venus to cross the solar disk lower (closer to the solar equator) than it would appear to an observer on the surface of the Earth.2) The ephemeris used for computing the planetary positions was not the high-precision JPL ephemeris (DE-421), but a lower-precision approximation. Yet, when tracked in detail, the transit takes place only about five hours later. It was decided that since the view of the transit in this visual does not correspond to any actual location ON the Earth, it might be misleading to present high-precision timing of the event.This visualization was developed for conceptual illustration and not meant for precision scientific use. Related pages

Venus 2012 Transit animation. Movie showing an artist's conception of the 2012 Venus transit. Starting on the surface of Venus, the camera pulls up through the planets clouds and flies back towards Earth to watch Venus's transit accross the Sun. Related pages