Sun
ID: 4999
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) operates in a geosynchronous orbit around Earth to obtain a continuous view of the Sun. The particular instrument in this visualization records imagery in the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum at wavelengths normally absorbed by Earth's atmosphere - so we need to observe them from space.
An X2.2 class solar flare erupts on the southern limb of the Sun in the early hours of April 20, 2022. This flare is very close to the lower right of the solar limb and most visible in the 131 Angstrom filter (teal color table). Solar flares are classified by the amount of energy released (Solar Flares: What Does It Take to Be X-Class?)
Many telescopes, especially reflecting telescopes such as the ones used on SDO (Wikipedia), have internal structures that support various optical components. These components can result in incoming light being scattered to other parts of the image. This can appear in the image as a faint haze, brightening dark areas and dimming bright areas. The point-spread function (Wikipedia) is a measure of how light that would normally be received by a single camera pixel, gets scattered onto other pixels. This is often seen as the "spikes" seen in images of bright stars. For SDO, it manifests as a double-X shape centered over a bright flare (see Sun Emits Third Solar Flare in Two Days). The effect of this scattered light can be computed, and removed, by a process called deconvolution (Wikipedia). This is often a very compute-intensive process which can be sped up by using a computers graphics-processing unit (GPU) for the computation.
Solar X-Flare - April 20, 2022 (X2.2 class)
An X2.2 class solar flare erupts on the southern limb of the Sun in the early hours of April 20, 2022. This flare is very close to the lower right of the solar limb and most visible in the 131 Angstrom filter (teal color table). Solar flares are classified by the amount of energy released (Solar Flares: What Does It Take to Be X-Class?)
What is the PSF (Point Spread-Function)?
Many telescopes, especially reflecting telescopes such as the ones used on SDO (Wikipedia), have internal structures that support various optical components. These components can result in incoming light being scattered to other parts of the image. This can appear in the image as a faint haze, brightening dark areas and dimming bright areas. The point-spread function (Wikipedia) is a measure of how light that would normally be received by a single camera pixel, gets scattered onto other pixels. This is often seen as the "spikes" seen in images of bright stars. For SDO, it manifests as a double-X shape centered over a bright flare (see Sun Emits Third Solar Flare in Two Days). The effect of this scattered light can be computed, and removed, by a process called deconvolution (Wikipedia). This is often a very compute-intensive process which can be sped up by using a computers graphics-processing unit (GPU) for the computation.
For More Information
Visualization Credits
Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Visualizer
Scott Wiessinger (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Lead Producer
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Scott Wiessinger (KBR Wyle Services, LLC): Lead Producer
Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Technical Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4999
Mission:
SDO
Data Used:
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.
Keywords:
SVS >> Solar Wind
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Solar Flares
SVS >> Space Weather
SVS >> SDO
SVS >> Solar Dynamics Observatory
SVS >> Heliophysics
SVS >> Corona
NASA Science >> Sun
SVS >> Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging
SVS >> EUV Imaging
SVS >> Solar Cycle 25
SVS >> Point-Spread-Function (PSF)
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4999
Mission:
SDO
Data Used:
SDO/AIA/304 Filter also referred to as: AIA 304
JOINT SCIENCE OPERATIONS CENTER - 2022-04-20T02:40:00 to 2022-04-20T06:40:00SDO/AIA/171 Filter also referred to as: AIA 171
JOINT SCIENCE OPERATIONS CENTER - 2022-04-20T02:40:00 to 2022-04-20T06:40:00SDO/AIA/131 Filter also referred to as: AIA 131
JOINT SCIENCE OPERATIONS CENTER - 2022-04-20T02:40:00 to 2022-04-20T06:40:00Keywords:
SVS >> Solar Wind
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Solar Flares
SVS >> Space Weather
SVS >> SDO
SVS >> Solar Dynamics Observatory
SVS >> Heliophysics
SVS >> Corona
NASA Science >> Sun
SVS >> Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging
SVS >> EUV Imaging
SVS >> Solar Cycle 25
SVS >> Point-Spread-Function (PSF)
GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0
