Sunbound for 133 Days

This visual journey captures the dynamic solar happenings observed by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) over a span of 133 days. Orbiting Earth, SDO has consistently provided captivating 4K x 4K resolution imagery of the Sun for nearly 13 years. This wealth of data has fueled numerous revelations about the Sun's behavior and its impact on the solar system.

Equipped with a trio of instruments, SDO snaps an image of the Sun every 0.75 seconds. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) alone captures images every 12 seconds across 10 different wavelengths of light. This mesmerizing 133-day time lapse features imagery captured at 17.1 nanometers, an extreme-ultraviolet wavelength that unveils the Sun’s outermost atmospheric layer, the corona.

Condensing 133 days, roughly four months, of solar observations into a 59-minute sequence, this video showcases the Sun's rotation as bright active regions traverse its surface. This celestial dance occurs as the Sun rotates approximately once every 27 days.