You should probably go look at the sun this weekend.
While this would normally be a bad idea, thanks to a
recently released time-lapse depicting the sun's solar cycle, you could do it
safely from the comfort of your own home.
NASA launched the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
in February 2010, a first-of-its-kind spacecraft with a single mission: to
study the sun.
NASA has created a stunning time-lapse depicting the
sun's solar cycle, an 11-year period bookended by the flipping of the star's
The Solar Cycle
The hour-long video begins at a point in the sun’s
solar cycle called the “solar minimum.” This period is relatively calm, with
just the occasional burst of bright light signalling some sort of solar
activity, a sunspot or solar flare, for example.
The number and intensity of these bursts increases
in the video until they peak near its midpoint — that’s when the cycle reaches
the “solar maximum” — and then begin subsiding once again.
When the SDO launched, NASA didn’t expect the
spacecraft to capture this entire solar cycle — it was only designed for a
five-year mission.
But because it has remained functional for twice
that, NASA scientists have been able to collect data on a full cycle — data
they can use to predict the sun’s future magnetic activity, which could affect
everything from the function of satellites to the health of astronauts.
A Decade of SDO Discoveries
During its decade in orbit, the data collected from
SDO has yielded many discoveries — and at least one of which may eventually
help us power life on Earth.
In 2019, the
SDO led to a discovery of a brand-new type of magnetic explosion that
scientists had first theorized existed a decade prior.
That discovery could help researchers figure out how
to better control plasma in a lab setting, which could help with the
development of nuclear fusion technology.
And the SDO isn’t done yet — it still has its sights
fixed firmly on the sun, meaning it could yield new insights in the future that
we haven’t even considered.
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