Solar Dynamics Observatory - Argo view - Slices of SDO

  • Released Tuesday, December 24, 2013
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Argos (or Argus Panoptes) was the 100-eyed giant in Greek mythology (wikipedia).

While the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has significantly less than 100 eyes, (see "SDO Jewelbox: The Many Eyes of SDO"), seeing connections in the solar atmosphere through the many filters of SDO presents a number of interesting challenges. This visualization experiment illustrates a mechanism for highlighting these connections.

This visualization is a variation of the original Solar Dynamics Observatory - Argo view. In this case, the different wavelength filters are presented in three sets around the Sun at full 4Kx4K resolution. This enables monitoring of changes in time over all wavelengths at any location around the limb of the Sun.

The wavelengths presented are: 617.3nm optical light from SDO/HMI. From SDO/AIA we have 170nm (pink), then 160nm (green), 33.5nm (blue), 30.4nm (orange), 21.1nm (violet), 19.3nm (bronze), 17.1nm (gold), 13.1nm (aqua) and 9.4nm (green).

We've locked the camera to rotate the view of the Sun so each wedge-shaped wavelength filter passes over a region of the Sun. As the features pass from one wavelength to the next, we can see dramatic differences in solar structures that appear in different wavelengths.

  • Filaments extending off the limb of the Sun which are bright in 30.4 nanometers, appear dark in many other wavelengths.

  • Sunspots which appear dark in optical wavelengths, are festooned with glowing ribbons in ultraviolet wavelengths.

  • small flares, invisible in optical wavelengths, are bright ribbons in ultraviolet wavelengths.

  • if we compare the visible light limb of the Sun with the 170 nanometer filter on the left, with the visible light limb and the 9.4 nanometer filter on the right, we see that the 'edge' is at different heights. This effect is due to the different amounts of absorption, and emission, of the solar atmosphere in ultraviolet light.

  • in far ultraviolet light, the photosphere is dark since the black-body spectrum at a temperature of 5700 Kelvin emits very little light in this wavelength.

¼ resolution full-disk movie illustrating how the different wavelength filters move around the solar image.

Composited 4Kx4K frames of the different wavelengths, rendered at native SDO resolution. These frames are useful for easy movies of cropped views centered on specific features.

Composited 4Kx4K frames of the different wavelengths, rendered at native SDO resolution. These frames are useful for easy movies of cropped views centered on specific features.

A graphical key to the wavelengths of each part of the image. Note that this key maps the dominant color table to the wavelength, not the position in the graphic.

A graphical key to the wavelengths of each part of the image. Note that this key maps the dominant color table to the wavelength, not the position in the graphic.

From animation 4009, a map identifying the wavelength locations of the various filters in the solar spectrum.

From animation 4009, a map identifying the wavelength locations of the various filters in the solar spectrum.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, the SDO Science Team, and the Virtual Solar Observatory.

This page was originally published on Tuesday, December 24, 2013.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 12:04 AM EST.

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