WASHINGTON: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured its 100 millionth image of the Sun. The instrument is the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), which uses four telescopes working parallel to gather eight images of the Sun – cycling through 10 different wavelengths every 12 seconds.
The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory uses four telescopes to take an incredible 57,000 photos of the sun each day.
The instrument racked up its millionth shot at 12:49 p.m. ET on Jan. 19 after 5 years of keeping its eyes — or lenses — on the sun.
Every 21 seconds the AIA instrument used its four telescopes working together to take 8 images of the sun at 10 different wavelengths.
The huge number of images gathered in rapid succession and at high definition allows solar physicists to better observe and understand fast-moving and transient events occurring deep within the sun’s corona.
The boiling corona surrounding the sun can reach temperatures around 1,000 times hotter than its surface, causing giant eruptions known as solar flares and creating space weather that can slam into Earth’s magnetosphere, threatening satellite damage and power outages.
Data from AIA helps physicists understand why the Sun’s magnetic fields are always on the move, driving its internal dynamics and the resultant activity that causes solar winds and space weather.
