Lunar Transit of October 30, 2016

Looks like the Moon moved across the Sun again yesterday. Not a double eclipse, but a nice example of how the Moon's orbit brings it into SDO's field of view a couple of times each year. Here is the 48-hour movie showing the lunar transit in AIA 304 (a good Halloween choice!)

The Next Two Weeks in SDO History

Today starting at 1700 UTC (1:00 pm ET) SDO will perform the EVE Cruciform calibration maneuver.

Next week, on October 26, 2016, SDO will perform the EVE Field of View calibration maneuver at 1315 UTC (9:15 am ET) and the HMI/AIA Flatfield calibration maneuver at 1630 UTC (2:30 pm ET).

During calibration maneuvers SDO science data may be unavailable, blurry, or otherwise not usable. On the other hand, the images can be fun to look at! At left is an AIA 304 image showing how SDO is tipped up a little during the first leg of the cruciform.

On October 30, 3016, SDO will experience a Lunar Transit between 1956 and 2056 UTC (3:56 and 4:56 pm ET). The Moon will cover about 59% of the Sun at the peak of this transit.