{ "id": 11112, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11112/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Gradient Sun", "description": "Watching a particularly beautiful movie of the sun helps show how the lines between science and art can sometimes blur. But there is more to the connection between the two disciplines: science and art techniques are often quite similar, indeed one may inform the other or be improved based on lessons from the other arena. One such case is a technique known as a \"gradient filter\" — recognizable to many people as an option available on a photo-editing program. Gradients are, in fact, a mathematical description that highlights the places of greatest physical change in space. A gradient filter, in turn, enhances places of contrast, making them all the more obviously different, a useful tool when adjusting photos. Scientists, too, use gradient filters to enhance contrast, using them to accentuate fine structures that might otherwise be lost in the background noise. On the sun, for example, scientists wish to study a phenomenon known as coronal loops, which are giant arcs of solar material constrained to travel along that particular path by the magnetic fields in the sun's atmosphere. Observations of the loops, which can be more or less tangled and complex during different phases of the sun's 11-year activity cycle, can help researchers understand what's happening with the sun's complex magnetic fields, fields that can also power great eruptions on the sun such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections. The images here show an unfiltered image from the sun next to one that has been processed using a gradient filter. Note how the coronal loops are sharp and defined, making them all the more easy to study. On the other hand, gradients also make great art. Watch the movie to see how the sharp loops on the sun next to the more fuzzy areas in the lower solar atmosphere provide a dazzling show. || ", "release_date": "2012-10-18T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:41.939664-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 471456, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011112/180gradient.png", "filename": "180gradient.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Gradient Sun VideoFor complete transcript, click here.To watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube Channel, click here.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 }, "main_video": { "id": 471458, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011112/G2012-107_Gradient_Sun.mov", "filename": "G2012-107_Gradient_Sun.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Gradient Sun VideoFor complete transcript, click here.To watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube Channel, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 }, "main_credits": {}, "progress": "Complete", "media_groups": [ { "id": 347919, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11112/#media_group_347919", "widget": "Basic text with HTML", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Watching a particularly beautiful movie of the sun helps show how the lines between science and art can sometimes blur. But there is more to the connection between the two disciplines: science and art techniques are often quite similar, indeed one may inform the other or be improved based on lessons from the other arena. One such case is a technique known as a \"gradient filter\" — recognizable to many people as an option available on a photo-editing program. Gradients are, in fact, a mathematical description that highlights the places of greatest physical change in space. A gradient filter, in turn, enhances places of contrast, making them all the more obviously different, a useful tool when adjusting photos. Scientists, too, use gradient filters to enhance contrast, using them to accentuate fine structures that might otherwise be lost in the background noise. On the sun, for example, scientists wish to study a phenomenon known as coronal loops, which are giant arcs of solar material constrained to travel along that particular path by the magnetic fields in the sun's atmosphere. Observations of the loops, which can be more or less tangled and complex during different phases of the sun's 11-year activity cycle, can help researchers understand what's happening with the sun's complex magnetic fields, fields that can also power great eruptions on the sun such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections.

The images here show an unfiltered image from the sun next to one that has been processed using a gradient filter. Note how the coronal loops are sharp and defined, making them all the more easy to study. On the other hand, gradients also make great art. Watch the movie to see how the sharp loops on the sun next to the more fuzzy areas in the lower solar atmosphere provide a dazzling show.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 347920, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11112/#media_group_347920", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "

Gradient Sun Video

For complete transcript, click here.

To watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube Channel, click here.", "items": [ { "id": 316340, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 471457, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011112/1080gradient.png", "filename": "1080gradient.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Gradient Sun VideoFor complete transcript, click here.To watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube Channel, click here.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 316341, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 471456, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011112/180gradient.png", "filename": "180gradient.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Gradient Sun VideoFor complete transcript, click here.To watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube Channel, click here.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 316342, "type": "media", 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"https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011112/G2012-107_Gradient_Sun_appletv.m4v", "filename": "G2012-107_Gradient_Sun_appletv.m4v", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Gradient Sun VideoFor complete transcript, click here.To watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube Channel, click here.", "width": 960, "height": 540, "pixels": 518400 } }, { "id": 316339, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 471464, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011112/G2012-107_Gradient_Sun_youtube_hq.mov", "filename": "G2012-107_Gradient_Sun_youtube_hq.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Gradient Sun VideoFor complete transcript, click here.To watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube Channel, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } }, { "id": 316344, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 471466, "url": 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"https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011112/G2012-107_Gradient_Sun_ipod_lg.m4v", "filename": "G2012-107_Gradient_Sun_ipod_lg.m4v", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "Gradient Sun VideoFor complete transcript, click here.To watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube Channel, click here.", "width": 640, "height": 360, "pixels": 230400 } }, { "id": 316345, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 853865, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011112/GSFC_20121018_Gradient_m11112_Sun.en_US.srt", "filename": "GSFC_20121018_Gradient_m11112_Sun.en_US.srt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "Gradient Sun VideoFor complete transcript, click here.To watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube Channel, click here.", "label": "English", "language_code": "" } }, { "id": 316346, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 853866, "url": 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"employer": "USRA" } ] } ], "missions": [ "SDO" ], "series": [ "Narrated Movies", "Solar Snapshots" ], "tapes": [ "Gradient Sun (Produced by: Will Duquette)" ], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Sun" ], "keywords": [ "Corona", "Earth Science", "Gradient", "HDTV", "Heliophysics", "SDO", "Solar Activity", "Solar Dynamics Observatory", "Solar Ultraviolet", "Solar Wind", "Space Weather", "Sun-earth Interactions" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 11105, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11105/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Gradient Sun", "description": "Scientific imagery can be stunning. There's a simple reason why: the same tools to create art are often used in the pursuit of science. One such tool, recognizable to many people as an image effect available on digital photo editing programs, is the gradient filter. When applied to images, the filter sharpens detail by boosting contrast. Scientists use it to accentuate fine structures that might otherwise be lost in the background noise of some scenes. Applying the filter to satellite views of the sun, for example, enhances the giant arcs of solar material in the sun's atmosphere called coronal loops. By studying these loops, scientists can track the structure and movement of magnetic fields that drive the creation of sunspots and giant radiation bursts known as solar flares. Watch the video to see the eye-catching effect this filter has on images of the sun captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite. || ", "release_date": "2012-10-23T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:41.438904-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 471400, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011105/cover-1024.jpg", "filename": "cover-1024.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Art and science unite to illuminate complex solar features.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }