How to Watch 10-Year Time Lapse Video of the Sun
As children, we were told not to look at the sun (or even look directly at it ) because it can damage our eyes. It makes sense, of course, but it also adds mystery to the sun. We know it’s bright, but what exactly does it look like? Thanks to NASA, you can no longer be surprised because they recently released a 10-year-old time-lapse video of the sun. Here’s how to watch it and what you’ll see.
What’s in the video?
To date, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has been continuously observing the Sun for over a decade; in particular, from June 2, 2010. So, as soon as they turned 10 on June 1, 2020, SDO prepared this time-lapse video showing what was happening to our nearest star.
Over the past decade, SDO has collected 425 million high-resolution images of the sun, or one image every 0.75 seconds. As a result, one photo of the sun was taken every hour. In terms of slow motion video, each day was compressed into one second of footage, making it 61 minutes long.
So what exactly do you see? According to NASA, “the video shows the ups and downs in activity that occur as part of the Sun’s 11-year solar cycle, as well as notable events such as planetary transitions and eruptions.” The video also features non-standard music called “Solar Observer”, written by musician Lars Leonhard.
Was there something missing in the video? According to NASA :
Although SDO stared unblinkingly at the Sun, there were a few things he missed. The dark footage in the video is caused by the Earth or Moon eclipsing the SDO as they pass between the spacecraft and the Sun. The longer power outage in 2016 was caused by a temporary problem with the AIA, which was successfully resolved after a week. Images with the Sun off-center were observed during SDO instrument calibration.
How to watch
NASA has posted the video on YouTube so anyone can watch it from the comfort of their own home:
And this time you won’t need special glasses.