Spectacular three year time lapse video from the Solar Dynamics Observatory
In the three years since it first provided images of the sun in the spring of 2010, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has had virtually unbroken coverage of the sun’s rise toward solar maximum, the peak of solar activity in its regular 11-year cycle. This video shows those three years of the sun at a pace of two images per day.
SDO’s Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) captures a shot of the sun every 12 seconds in 10 different wavelengths. The images shown here are based on a wavelength of 171 Angstroms, which is in the extreme ultraviolet range and shows solar material at around 600,000 Kelvin. In this wavelength it is easy to see the sun’s 25-day rotation as well as how solar activity has increased over three years.
During the course of the video, the sun subtly increases and decreases in apparent size. This is because the distance between the SDO spacecraft and the sun varies over time. The image is, however, remarkably consistent and stable despite the fact that SDO orbits the Earth at 6,876 miles per hour and the Earth orbits the sun at 67,062 miles per hour.
Such stability is crucial for scientists, who use SDO to learn more about our closest star. These images have regularly caught solar flares and coronal mass ejections in the act, types of space weather that can send radiation and solar material toward Earth and interfere with satellites in space. SDO’s glimpses into the violent dance on the sun help scientists understand what causes these giant explosions — with the hopes of some day improving our ability to predict this space weather.
There are several noteworthy events that appear briefly in this video. They include the two partial eclipses of the sun by the moon, two roll maneuvers, the largest flare of this solar cycle, comet Lovejoy, and the transit of Venus. The specific time for each event is listed below, but a sharp-eyed observer may see some while the video is playing.
00:30;24 Partial eclipse by the moon
00:31;16 Roll maneuver
01:11;02 August 9, 2011 X6.9 Flare, currently the largest of this solar cycle
01:28;07 Comet Lovejoy, December 15, 2011
01:42;29 Roll Maneuver
01:51;07 Transit of Venus, June 5, 2012
02:28;13 Partial eclipse by the moon
More information about this video, as well as full HD version of all four wavelengths and print-resolution stills are public domain and can be viewed and downloaded at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piuKlpJmjfg
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William Astley says:
April 24, 2013 at 7:43 pm
The following is more information concerning how unusual the 20th century period of high solar activity was
The 20th century high solar activity is an artifact. The so-called Grand Modern Maximum did not happen.
http://www.leif.org/research/The%20long-term%20variation%20of%20solar%20activity.pdf
Leif, what are the rounded v shaped arcs on the surface of the Sun, several usually in parallel? Sor of like this: (>>>) , but extending more toward the poles. They alternate bright and dark. It appears the eruptions occur on the bright bands. And more interestingly a cluster of sunspots seems to form where the banding becomes more turbulent and apparently degrades. It partially explains why a group of spots seems to gather in one area on the surface, moving as the Sun rotates. The banding suggests magnetic structure appearing on the surface that I’ve never noticed before. The 171 Å images show the banding much more clearly than the other wavelength images.
Hoser says:
April 24, 2013 at 10:27 pm
Leif, what are the rounded v shaped arcs on the surface of the Sun, several usually in parallel?
They are ‘filaments’,i.e. Clouds of Hydrogen suspended in the magnetic field of the solar atmosphere. They usually lie over lines where the magnetic field changes sign. When a filament becomes unstable it can erupt and we see an CME [Coronal Mass Ejection]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_prominence
Dear Jorge Kafkazar,
I agree, the NASA soundtrack music was almost-but-not-quite. May I suggest: 1) Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 as performed by Van Cliburn with Kiril Kondrashin conducting at Carnegie Hall on May 19, 1958; or 2) Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major. Both capture the grandeur and majesty and beauty of what we watched.
Thank you, dear Mr. Watts. What a lovely end to a long day.
The One Who made……… the Sun……………………………………………loves … me. And I weep for joy.
Will be interesting to hear the theory of why the most active regions are in the ‘tropics’.
In reply to:
Leif Svalgaard says:
April 24, 2013 at 9:31 pm
William Astley says:
April 24, 2013 at 7:43 pm
The following is more information concerning how unusual the 20th century period of high solar activity was …
Leif Svalgaard: …The 20th century high solar activity is an artifact. The so-called Grand Modern Maximum did not happen. …
William,
You continue to repeat that the 20th century grand solar maximum did not occur. I find that astonishing as we observed that it did.
Are you also going to claim that the sun is not entering a grand minimum? We are currently at the maximum of solar cycle 24. Is this the same or different that solar cycle 22 and 23?
http://www.solen.info/solar/images/comparison_recent_cycles.png
Why is the magnetic field strength of newly formed sunspots decaying linearly? What will be the final consequences of this sudden change to the sun? Sunspots are being replaced with pores. Think of what is happening using Eugene Parker’s tachocline/magnetic rope model. As the magnetic rope field strength decays the ropes are being torn apart as they rise up through the convection zone which explains the observed change on the surface of the sun from sunspots to pores. Extrapolate the change. As magnetic field strength of the ropes decays further they are torn apart in convection zone and there is nothing left to form pores on the surface of the sun. The solar magnetic field has been interrupted. How does it restart?
Has this special solar change happened before? Yes. There are cyclic unexplained abrupt changes in cosmogenic isotopes (C14 for example) in the paleo record.
Do the cyclic anomalously changes on the earth correlate with cosmogenic isotope changes which indicates that a major solar cycle change occurred at the same time? Yes.
When was the last time the magnetic field strength of newly formed sunspots decay linearly?
http://arxiv.org/abs/1009.0784v1
Long-term Evolution of Sunspot Magnetic Fields
Independent of the normal solar cycle, a decrease in the sunspot magnetic field
strength has been observed using the Zeeman-split 1564.8nm Fe I spectral line at the
NSO Kitt Peak McMath-Pierce telescope…. ….This trend was seen to continue in observations of the first sunspots of the new solar Cycle 24, and extrapolating a linear fit to this trend would lead to only half the number of spots in Cycle 24 compared to Cycle 23, and imply virtually no sunspots in Cycle 25. …. ….We reported in Penn & Livingston (2006) that a time series of this magnetic field data showed a decrease in the umbral magnetic field strength which was independent of the normal sunspot cycle. Also, the measurements revealed a threshold magnetic field strength of about 1500 Gauss, below which no dark pores formed. A linear extrapolation of the magnetic field trend suggested that the mean field strength would reach this threshold 1500 Gauss value in the year 2017.
I am curious why has there been no discussion concerning pores replacing sunspots?
http://wattsupwiththat.com/reference-pages/solar/
K.G. McCracken’s “Long Term Trends in the Intensity of GCR and Frequency of occurrence of Solar Particle Events.”
http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/sspvse/oral/Ken_McCracken/wintergreen1.pdf
I find it surreal (a Heinrich event is a big deal) that we are watching the solar magnetic cycle interruption occurring in slow motion as this specific change in the sun appears to be the cause of the Heinrich events.
Have you ever looked at and thought what causes the changes to this graphs?
Greenland ice sheet temperatures last 11,000 years
http://www.climate4you.com/images/GISP2%20TemperatureSince10700%20BP%20with%20CO2%20from%20EPICA%20DomeC.gif
Antarctic ice sheet temperatures last 450,000 years.
http://www.climate4you.com/images/VostokTemp0-420000%20BP.gif
Ocean temperatures derived from ocean sediment analysis, last 5 million years.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Five_Myr_Climate_Change.svg
http://cio.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/FILES/root/2000/QuatIntRenssen/2000QuatIntRenssen.pdf
Reduced solar activity as a trigger for the start of the Younger Dryas? By Hans Renssen, Bas van Geel, Johannes van der Plicht, Michel Magny
The authors of the above 2000 published paper are theoretically on the correct page. It appears the sun did cause the Younger Dryas cool event (Heinrich event, they occur with a frequency of 6000 to 8000 years) and it appears solar magnetic cycle changes also cause the Dansgaard-Oeschger cycle (1450 year cycle). The mechanism is not TSI (total solar irradiation) changes however. The geomagnetic specialists have found a geomagnetic excursion that correlates the YD. TSI variations do not cause geomagnetic excursions.
Are there any other cyclic anomalous changes on the earth in the paleo record? Yes. Abrupt climate changes and abrupt changes to the geomagnetic field. There are burn marks on the surface of the planet that correlate in time with the geomagnetic excursions. The geomagnetic excursions correlate in time with the start and termination of interglacial period. The orbital configuration of the planet at the time of the event determines whether the event reinforces or ultimately strengths the geomagnetic field strength. In all cases the residue field in the earth’s liquid core resists rapid field changes.
***
William Astley says:
April 25, 2013 at 5:12 am
***
Magnetics have as much effect on the earth’s climate as holding a big magnet against a ceramic steam locomotive. None…
Elmer wrote:
It is known since Galileo that the Sun rotates!
One complete rotation with respect to the stars is about 25 days, resulting in one complete rotation with resoect to the moving Earth. The “about” is due to the fact that the Sun doesn’t rotate as a solid body, as one complete rotation takes somewhat longer at higher heliographic latitudes than for regions near the Sun’s equator.
William Astley says:
April 25, 2013 at 5:12 am
You continue to repeat that the 20th century grand solar maximum did not occur. I find that astonishing as we observed that it did.
The point is that we didn’t. I gave you the reasons for that. You ignore them. The rest of your post is your usual speculation.
Watching that made me real thirsty! };>)
I had to mute the sound track… a distraction and oddly not inspiring either. There is soooooo much detail apparent that it begs watching repeatedly. Can’t now but later this evening!
MtK
William Astley says:
April 25, 2013 at 5:12 am
“Have you ever looked at and thought what causes the changes to this graphs?
Greenland ice sheet temperatures last 11,000 years”
A simple explanation could be due to changes in Milankovitch cycles. 10,000 years ago obliquity was near maximum of 24.5 and NH summer solstice was at perihelion. There was a lot more insolation on the Greenland ice sheet then and it has been slowly declining since as obliquity declines and NH summer solstice has moved to aphelion.
Thanks Leif. Then these are the physical manifestations of the magnetic filaments produced by the dynamo, and penetrate through the surface about 60° to 70° N and S. Then if a sunspot is located “under” one of these filaments, then doesn’t that indicate the magnetic field lines also penetrate the photosphere at these points? I think now the whole system is much more clear.
From Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun), apparently the photosphere is more dense than the convection zone or the atmosphere. So when the field lines pass through the photosphere, are they essentially pinned at these locations? Or is the atmosphere more or less anchored to the photosphere anyway?
It would seem the photosphere would be tied via the convection zone to the deeper layers, and thus is not really free to rotate at a different rate than the deeper material. Or does convection also get stretched? I guess it would have to be stretched given the change in angular velocity required to conserve angular momentum. Or does hot material flow up from the core at the equator and then N and S to compensate?
Although I’m enjoying this, it’s probably a waste of time for you.
Thanks.
Wow..I haven’t seen anything like this before. Science is so beautiful.