It’s eclipse season for the Solar Dynamics Observatory! Twice a year near each equinox, the orbital dynamics lines up so that from SDO’s vantage point, the Earth passes between SDO and the Sun. Eclipse season lasts for about three weeks and each eclipse can last up to 72 minutes in the middle of an eclipse season. This current eclipse season started on September 11 and lasts until October 4. There’s no way to avoid the loss of images, the SDO team says, but the continuous contact with the ground station SDO’s orbit allows was judged to outweigh the loss of some images.
6 Replies to “The Disappearing Sun”
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“(From NASA:) A full-disk multiwavelength extreme ultraviolet image of the sun taken by SDO on March 30, 2010. False colors trace different gas temperatures. Reds are relatively cool (about 60,000 Kelvin, or 107,540 F); blues and greens are hotter (greater than 1 million Kelvin, or 1,799,540 F). Credit: NASA”- http://asymptotia.com/wp-images/2010/04/sdo_image_small.jpg
Heioseismology is a very interesting subject from the SOHO perspective and fits nicely along side of SDO.
Why does the limb of the moon appear blurry and “out of focus” in these images?
Because that’s the Earth 😉
Doh! Thanks.
/must read caption more carefully/
Doh! Thanks.
/must read caption more carefully/
Why does the limb of the moon appear blurry and “out of focus” in these images?