April 21, 2011 marks the one-year anniversary of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) First Light press conference, where NASA revealed the first images taken by the spacecraft.
In the last year, the sun has gone from its quietest period in years to the activity marking the beginning of solar cycle 24. SDO has captured every moment with a level of detail never before possible.
The mission has returned unprecedented images of solar flares, eruptions of prominences, and the early stages of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). In this video are some of the most beautiful, interesting, and mesmerizing events seen by SDO during its first year.
In the order they appear in the video the events are:
Prominence Eruption from AIA in 304 Ångstroms on March 30, 2010
Cusp Flow from AIA in 171 Ångstroms on February 14, 2011
Prominence Eruption from AIA in 304 Ångstroms on February 25, 2011
Cusp Flow from AIA in 304 Ångstroms on February 14, 2011
Merging Sunspots from HMI in Continuum on October 24-28, 2010
Prominence Eruption and active region from AIA in 304 Ångstroms on April 30, 2010
Solar activity and plasma loops from AIA in 171 Ångstroms on March 4-8, 2011
Flowing plasma from AIA in 304 Ångstroms on April 19, 2010
Active regions from HMI in Magnetogram on March 10, 2011
Filament eruption from AIA in 304 Ångstroms on December 6, 2010
CME start from AIA in 211 Ångstroms on March 8, 2011
X2 flare from AIA in 304 Ångstroms on February 15, 2011
CREDIT: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO, Music courtesy of Moby Gratis.
An artist's rendition of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft reaching it's first perihelion. Included are the "switchbacks" first observed by the Parker Solar Probe Mission. Copyright: ESA/ATG medialab