{ "id": 12688, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12688/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "SDO's View of the August 21 Solar Eclipse", "description": "A movie of the Aug 21, 2017 lunar transit as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO.) The Sun appears in visible light, and 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light. The movie shows the Sun moving a bit because SDO has a hard time keeping the Sun centered in the image during a transit, because the Moon blocks so much light. The fine guidance systems on the SDO instruments need to see the whole Sun in order keep the images centered from exposure to exposure. Once the transit was over, the fine guidance systems started back up, once again providing steady images of the Sun.Credit: NASA/SDOWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. || SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still.jpg (3840x2160) [1.4 MB] || SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still_searchweb.png (320x180) [70.6 KB] || SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still_thm.png (80x40) [5.5 KB] || 12688_SDO_Eclipse_Transit_H264_1080.webm (1920x1080) [4.6 MB] || 12688_SDO_Eclipse_Transit_H264_1080.mov (1920x1080) [126.4 MB] || 12688_SDO_Eclipse_Transit_H264_best_3840x2160_2997.mov (3840x2160) [378.1 MB] || 12688_SDO_Eclipse_Transit_ProRes_3840x2160_2997.mov (3840x2160) [2.7 GB] || ", "release_date": "2017-08-22T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:25.280250-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 412010, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still_searchweb.png", "filename": "SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A movie of the Aug 21, 2017 lunar transit as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO.) The Sun appears in visible light, and 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light. The movie shows the Sun moving a bit because SDO has a hard time keeping the Sun centered in the image during a transit, because the Moon blocks so much light. The fine guidance systems on the SDO instruments need to see the whole Sun in order keep the images centered from exposure to exposure. Once the transit was over, the fine guidance systems started back up, once again providing steady images of the Sun.Credit: NASA/SDOWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 }, "main_video": null, "main_credits": { "Produced by": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ], "Written by": [ { "name": "Kathalina Tran", "employer": "KBR Wyle Services, LLC" } ] }, "progress": "Complete", "media_groups": [ { "id": 329450, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12688/#media_group_329450", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "A movie of the Aug 21, 2017 lunar transit as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO.) The Sun appears in visible light, and 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light. The movie shows the Sun moving a bit because SDO has a hard time keeping the Sun centered in the image during a transit, because the Moon blocks so much light. The fine guidance systems on the SDO instruments need to see the whole Sun in order keep the images centered from exposure to exposure. Once the transit was over, the fine guidance systems started back up, once again providing steady images of the Sun.

Credit: NASA/SDO

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

", "items": [ { "id": 256251, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 412009, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still.jpg", "filename": "SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A movie of the Aug 21, 2017 lunar transit as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO.) The Sun appears in visible light, and 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light. The movie shows the Sun moving a bit because SDO has a hard time keeping the Sun centered in the image during a transit, because the Moon blocks so much light. The fine guidance systems on the SDO instruments need to see the whole Sun in order keep the images centered from exposure to exposure. Once the transit was over, the fine guidance systems started back up, once again providing steady images of the Sun.Credit: NASA/SDOWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 256252, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 412010, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still_searchweb.png", "filename": "SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A movie of the Aug 21, 2017 lunar transit as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO.) The Sun appears in visible light, and 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light. The movie shows the Sun moving a bit because SDO has a hard time keeping the Sun centered in the image during a transit, because the Moon blocks so much light. The fine guidance systems on the SDO instruments need to see the whole Sun in order keep the images centered from exposure to exposure. Once the transit was over, the fine guidance systems started back up, once again providing steady images of the Sun.Credit: NASA/SDOWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 256253, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 412011, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still_thm.png", "filename": "SDO_Eclipse_Transit_Still_thm.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A movie of the Aug 21, 2017 lunar transit as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO.) The Sun appears in visible light, and 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light. 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The Sun appears in visible light, and 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light. The movie shows the Sun moving a bit because SDO has a hard time keeping the Sun centered in the image during a transit, because the Moon blocks so much light. The fine guidance systems on the SDO instruments need to see the whole Sun in order keep the images centered from exposure to exposure. 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The fine guidance systems on the SDO instruments need to see the whole Sun in order keep the images centered from exposure to exposure. Once the transit was over, the fine guidance systems started back up, once again providing steady images of the Sun.Credit: NASA/SDOWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 256248, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 412013, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/12688_SDO_Eclipse_Transit_ProRes_3840x2160_2997.mov", "filename": "12688_SDO_Eclipse_Transit_ProRes_3840x2160_2997.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "A movie of the Aug 21, 2017 lunar transit as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO.) The Sun appears in visible light, and 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light. The movie shows the Sun moving a bit because SDO has a hard time keeping the Sun centered in the image during a transit, because the Moon blocks so much light. The fine guidance systems on the SDO instruments need to see the whole Sun in order keep the images centered from exposure to exposure. Once the transit was over, the fine guidance systems started back up, once again providing steady images of the Sun.Credit: NASA/SDOWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } }, { "id": 256250, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 412008, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/12688_SDO_Eclipse_Transit_H264_best_3840x2160_2997.mov", "filename": "12688_SDO_Eclipse_Transit_H264_best_3840x2160_2997.mov", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "A movie of the Aug 21, 2017 lunar transit as viewed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO.) The Sun appears in visible light, and 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light. The movie shows the Sun moving a bit because SDO has a hard time keeping the Sun centered in the image during a transit, because the Moon blocks so much light. The fine guidance systems on the SDO instruments need to see the whole Sun in order keep the images centered from exposure to exposure. Once the transit was over, the fine guidance systems started back up, once again providing steady images of the Sun.Credit: NASA/SDOWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.", "width": 3840, "height": 2160, "pixels": 8294400 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 329449, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12688/#media_group_329449", "widget": "Basic text with HTML", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory was also treated to a view of the Moon blocking the Sun. Because of its location 3,000 miles above the Earth, SDO sees several lunar transits each year. An eclipse on the ground, however, does not guarantee that SDO will see anything out of the ordinary. In this case, SDO was lucky and got treated to the Moon briefly passing in front of its non-stop view of the Sun at the same time that the Moon’s shadow passed over the eastern United States. SDO only saw 14% of the Sun blocked by the Moon, whereas most US residents saw 60% or more.

Launched on Feb. 11, 2010, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, is the most advanced spacecraft ever designed to study the Sun. It has examined the Sun's atmosphere, magnetic field and also provided a better understanding of the role the Sun plays in Earth's atmospheric chemistry and climate. SDO captures images of the Sun in 10 different wavelengths every 12 seconds at resolution 8 times better than HD. Each wavelength helps highlight a different temperature of solar material. Different temperatures can, in turn, show specific structures on the sun such as solar flares, which are gigantic explosions of light and x-rays, or coronal loops, which are stream of solar material traveling up and down looping magnetic field lines.

The videos and images displayed here are constructed from several wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light and a portion of the visible spectrum. The red colored Sun is the 304 ångstrom ultraviolet, the golden colored Sun is 171 ångstrom, and the orange Sun is filtered visible light. 304 and 171 show the atmosphere of the Sun, which does not appear in the visible part of the spectrum. 171 highlights material at about 1 million degrees Fahrenheit (600,000 degrees Celsius.)", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 329451, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12688/#media_group_329451", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Animated GIF of the Moon transiting across the Sun, taken by SDO in 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light on August 21, 2017.

Credit: NASA/SDO", "items": [ { "id": 256255, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 412014, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/SDO_171_Transit.gif", "filename": "SDO_171_Transit.gif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Animated GIF of the Moon transiting across the Sun, taken by SDO in 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light on August 21, 2017. Credit: NASA/SDO", "width": 500, "height": 500, "pixels": 250000 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 329452, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12688/#media_group_329452", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Animated GIF of the Moon transiting across the Sun, taken by SDO in visible light on August 21, 2017.

Credit: NASA/SDO", "items": [ { "id": 256256, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 412015, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/SDO_HMI_Visible_Transit.gif", "filename": "SDO_HMI_Visible_Transit.gif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Animated GIF of the Moon transiting across the Sun, taken by SDO in visible light on August 21, 2017. Credit: NASA/SDO", "width": 500, "height": 500, "pixels": 250000 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 329453, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12688/#media_group_329453", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Image of the Moon transiting across the Sun, using a blend of 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light and visible light imagery from SDO from August 21, 2017.

Credit: NASA/SDO", "items": [ { "id": 256257, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 412016, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/SDO_9-21-2017_Transit_HMI-171_blend.jpg", "filename": "SDO_9-21-2017_Transit_HMI-171_blend.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Image of the Moon transiting across the Sun, using a blend of 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light and visible light imagery from SDO from August 21, 2017. Credit: NASA/SDO", "width": 4096, "height": 4096, "pixels": 16777216 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 329454, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12688/#media_group_329454", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Image of the Moon transiting across the Sun, taken by SDO in 304 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light on August 21, 2017.

Credit: NASA/SDO", "items": [ { "id": 256258, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 412017, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/SDO_304_8-21-2017_Transit.jpg", "filename": "SDO_304_8-21-2017_Transit.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Image of the Moon transiting across the Sun, taken by SDO in 304 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light on August 21, 2017.Credit: NASA/SDO", "width": 4096, "height": 4096, "pixels": 16777216 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 329455, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12688/#media_group_329455", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Image of the Moon transiting across the Sun, taken by SDO in 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light on August 21, 2017.

Credit: NASA/SDO", "items": [ { "id": 256259, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 412018, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012688/SDO_171_8-21-2017_Transit.jpeg", "filename": "SDO_171_8-21-2017_Transit.jpeg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Image of the Moon transiting across the Sun, taken by SDO in 171 ångstrom extreme ultraviolet light on August 21, 2017.Credit: NASA/SDO", "width": 4096, "height": 4096, "pixels": 16777216 } } ], "extra_data": {} } ], "studio": "gms", "funding_sources": [ "NASA Heliophysics" ], "credits": [ { "role": "Producer", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Science writer", "people": [ { "name": "Kathalina Tran", "employer": "KBR Wyle Services, LLC" } ] }, { "role": "Project support", "people": [ { "name": "Leann Johnson", "employer": "Global Science and Technology, Inc." } ] } ], "missions": [ "SDO" ], "series": [ "2017 Solar Eclipse" ], "tapes": [], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Sun" ], "keywords": [ "4K", "Eclipse", "Heliophysics", "Moon", "SDO", "Solar Dynamics Observatory", "Transit" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 4075, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4075/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "Lunar Transit from Solar Dynamics Observatory (2010)", "description": "Just as we do on Earth, the Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite periodically crosses the Moon's shadow and experiences a solar eclipse. During the eclipse witnessed by SDO on October 7, 2010, the southern hemisphere of the Moon was silhouetted against the solar disk, revealing some especially prominent mountain peaks near the Moon's south pole. By using elevation data from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to visualize the Moon from SDO's point of view, it's possible to identify these peaks. Although all of these are well-known features, all but one of them have no official names. The following list corresponds to the labels in the animation, from left to right.In his 1954 sketch of the lunar south pole, astronomer Ewen Whitaker labeled this feature \"M3.\" It's a mountain about halfway between the craters Cabeus and Drygalski, at 83.2°S 68°W.Whitaker's \"M1,\" a mountain on the northern rim of Cabeus, 83.4°S 33°W.A mountain on the southern rim of Malapert crater, about halfway between the centers of Malapert and Haworth. Whitaker labels this Malapert Alpha. It's also known as Mons Malapert or Malapert Peak. 85.8°S 0°E.Labeled Leibnitz Beta by Whitaker and now officially named Mons Mouton, this is part of the highlands adjacent to the northern rim of Nobile crater. 84°S 37°E. Part of the Leibnitz mountain range first identified by Johann Schröter in the late 1700s, unrelated to Leibnitz Crater on the lunar far side.A mountain near Amundsen crater, on the western (Earthward) rim of Hédervári crater, 82.2°S 75°E. Whitaker tentatively labels this Leibnitz Epsilon in his sketch.The Moon visualization uses the latest albedo and elevation maps from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). || ", "release_date": "2013-06-12T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-02-02T22:11:14.692179-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 465571, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004000/a004075/sdomoon.0230_print.jpg", "filename": "sdomoon.0230_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The southern limb of the Moon transits across the Sun in this sequence of images from Solar Dynamics Observatory on October 7, 2010. Five peaks near the lunar south pole, visible in silhouette, are identified. A visualization of the Moon using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data is precisely aligned with the SDO image, then rotated to show these five peaks on a false-color global elevation map.This video is also available on our YouTube channel.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 11291, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11291/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "The Moon and the Sun: Two NASA Missions Join Their Images", "description": "Two or three times a year, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory observes the moon traveling across the sun, blocking its view. While this obscures solar observations for a short while, it offers the chance for an interesting view of the shadow of the moon. The moon’s crisp horizon can be seen up against the sun, since the moon does not have an atmosphere. (At other times of the year, when Earth blocks SDO’s view, the Earth’s horizon looks fuzzy due to its atmosphere.) If one looks closely at such a crisp border, the features of the moon’s topography are visible, as is the case in this image from Oct. 7, 2010. This recently inspired two NASA visualizers to overlay a 3-dimensional model of the moon based on data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter into the shadow of the SDO image. Such a task is fairly tricky, as the visualizers — Scott Wiessinger who typically works with the SDO imagery and Ernie Wright who works with the LRO imagery — had to precisely match up data from the correct time and viewpoint for the two separate instruments. The end result is an awe-inspiring image of the sun and the moon. To start the process, the visualizers took the viewing position and time from the SDO image. This information was dropped into an LRO model that can produce the exact view of the moon from anywhere, at any time, by incorporating 6 billion individual measurements of the moon’s surface height from LRO’s Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter instrument. The model had to take many factors into consideration, including not only SDO’s distance and viewing angle, but also the moon’s rotation and constant motion. Wright used animation software to wrap the elevation and appearance map around a sphere to simulate the moon. The two images were put together and the overlay was exact. The mountains and valleys on the horizon of the LRO picture fit right into the shadows seen by SDO. In its own way, this served as a kind of calibration of data. It means that the SDO data on its position and time is highly accurate and that the LRO models, too, are able to accurately provide images of what’s happening at any given moment in time. And of course, the whole exercise provides for a beautiful picture. || ", "release_date": "2013-06-12T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:05.101982-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 464832, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011291/Sun_Moon_Full_4k_web.jpg", "filename": "Sun_Moon_Full_4k_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This image is a view of the sun captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on Oct. 7, 2010, while partially obscured by the moon. A close look at the crisp horizon of the moon against the sun shows the outline of lunar mountains. A model of the moon from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been inserted into the picture, showing how perfectly the moon's true topology fits into the shadow observed by SDO. Credit: NASA/SDO/LRO/GSFC", "width": 320, "height": 320, "pixels": 102400 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [ { "id": 12698, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12698/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "What Spacecraft Saw During the 2017 Solar Eclipse", "description": "On Aug. 21, 2017, a solar eclipse passed over North America. People throughout the continent experienced a partial solar eclipse, and a total solar eclipse passed over a narrow swath of land stretching from Oregon to South Carolina, called the path of totality. NASA and its partner’s satellites had a unique vantage point to watch the eclipse. Several Sun-watching satellites were in a position to see the Moon cross in front of the Sun, while many Earth-observing satellites – and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which typically images the Moon’s landscape – captured images of the Moon’s shadow on Earth’s surface. See more and download content at https://go.nasa.gov/2x7b8kf || ", "release_date": "2017-08-30T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:24.856314-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 411636, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012600/a012698/iss_umbra.jpg", "filename": "iss_umbra.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Complete transcript available.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Music credit: Wonderful Nature by July Tourret", "width": 4928, "height": 3280, "pixels": 16163840 } } ], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }