SDO Images are Delayed

There is a delay in processing the near-realtime images at LMSAL. They are aware of the problem and are working on resolving it. Some near-realtime images will be missing beginning around 0000 UT on 29 February 2012.

AIA Images are now current

The power outages at the AIA offices have been fixed and the images are current.

AIA Images are Delayed in Processing

There is a processing delay at LMSAL, beginning at 0700 UTC on 24 February 2012.
The responsible people have been notified, and we are awaiting a reply.

Lunar Transit has Passed

Here is an image of the Sun as the Moon moves off the limb at 1427 UTC (0947 am ET) today. It was a fairly shallow transit, but the Moon covered a bright active region. This caused a dip in the EVE output and may allow scientists to calibrate the energy emitted by the active region.

Lunar transit on February 21, 2012

On Tuesday, February 21, 2012 we will again watch a lunar transit from SDO. Here is a video showing the path of the Moon as seen by the SDO instruments.

SDO Second Anniversary

At 10:23 am ET on February 11, 2010 SDO rose into the sky atop an Atlas V booster. 108 minutes later we were a free-flying satellite! In the 2 years since we have taken about 70 million images of the Sun, in EUV wavelengths, Doppler and Zeeman filtergrams, and EUV spectra. We have seen late phases of flares, magnetic fields as they rise to the solar surface, and 2 comets. Enormous prominence eruptions have been a favorite, especially when the material brightens as it splashes back down onto the surface.

This year we will watch as Solar Cycle 24 approaches solar maximum, at least in the northern hemisphere. Venus will go across the face of the Sun on June 5-6. It will be another banner year of SDO data and science.

Happy Birthday SDO!

SDO is still GO!

Second Anniversary of the SDO Launch

As we come up on the second anniversary of the SDO launch on February 11, 2010, it is nice to look at what is happening with SDO data. Steele Hill, media specialist for SDO, has developed a set of prints from SDO (and a few other satellites) called The Sun as Art. You can see the images on the SDO website. But you can also go see them at the Maryland Science Center in downtown Baltimore.


Last nite Steele attended an reception to honor members of the Science Center as well as the opening of The Sun as Art exhibit. Here we see Steele and friend at that opening of The Sun as Art exhibit in Baltimore. It was nice to see the images of the Sun hanging in a science-friendly place! After 3 months in Baltimore the exhibit will travel to other science museums.

NASA has just released a study of the Snowmageddon storm that caused such angst during the SDO launch. You can read the story on the NASA Portal. The high winds caused a one-day delay in the launch and then the low temperatures allowed us to see the beautiful waves and disappearing sun dog on the 11th. But the Snowmageddon Team Launch stuck at Goddard got us into orbit and on our way to a great mission.

SDO is GO!

SDO Featured on the IEEE Spectrum, 2.12

Check out whose on the cover of IEEE Spectrum 2.12! The story is on solar storms affecting the power grid. Space weather is becoming more interesting as we approach the maximum of Solar Cycle 24.

We are approaching the 2nd anniversary of SDO's launch on February 11, 2010. The satellite is still working great!

An Uneventful Week

After AR 11402 left loose with several large flares and produced proton fluxes not seen since 2005. the Sun flatlined this past week. There are still cool things to look at, like when is the southern hemisphere going to catch up with the northern.

SDO images and scientists will be featured in NOVA's The Secrets of the Sun, coming to a Public TV station near you on April 25, 2012. Check out the PBS Homepage for more details.