NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory 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.
These noteworthy events appear at the following times in the video:
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
Video from NASA.
Video description: The Sun unleashed a medium-sized solar flare that is visually spectacular. The large cloud of particles mushroomed up and fell back down looking as if it covered an area of almost half the solar surface.
Two NASA spacecrafts observed this event from three different view-points.
Video by NASA
Image description: At the end of August, a filament from the sun suddenly erupted into space. The filament had been held up for days by the Sun’s ever changing magnetic field and the timing of the eruption was unexpected. Learn more about the eruption.
Image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Image description: Should you put sunscreen on infants? Not usually. The best approach is to keep infants under 6 months out of the sun, especially between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
But when you are outside together, here are some of the most important ways to protect your infant from the harmful rays of the sun: an umbrella and brimmed hat for shade, a cooler for liquids, a bottle for hydration, and clothing for covering the skin.
Graphic by Michael J. Ermarth, Food and Drug Administration
Image description: These images show a solar flare as observed on January 23. You can see the sun’s surface brighten as gas was superheated and magnetically supercharged. In the far right image, there is a stream of solar material flowing into space, likely solar protons and a coronal mass ejection.
Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are not a danger to humans on Earth. The planet’s magnetic field and atmosphere deflect and absorb the energy. Sun storms can pose some risks to astronauts, and upset science, military, and communications satellites.
