The beauty of our nearest star

Discussion in 'Science and Nature' started by g0pher, Feb 17, 2015.

  1. \tStunning NASA video showcases 5 years of footage 
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSVv40M2aks
     
    NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which launched in 2010, recently celebrated its five-year anniversary. To celebrate, NASA cut together a stunning time-lapsed video showcasing the amazing vistas the SDO probe has captured to date. The SDO probe was designed to measure the structure and creation of the sun's magnetic field, as well as to investigate how changes within the sun impact the Earth.
    \nThe probe contains a number of scientific instruments, including tools for measuring extreme ultraviolet radiation, a Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, built by Lockheed Martin, which provides “continuous full-disk observations of the solar chromosphere and corna” in seven extreme ultraviolet channels. The SDO generates a reported 1.5TB of data per day, and has a 130Mbit linkage with Earth.
    \n\nThe new video compresses five years of observations into a few short minutes, but includes beautiful features from the various frequency bands and imaging equipment. We tend to think of the sun as static - so much so, that many cultures refer to it as an example of an object or event that does not change but continues in its course day after day, century after century. Because relatively few solar events actually cause a change in the naked-eye appearance of the sun or even result in unusual disturbances to Earth's magnetic field, it's easy to imagine that the sun is a unified, unchanging ball of fire.
    \n[​IMG]
    \nVideos like this reveal that nothing could be further from the truth. One of the purposes of launching the SDO was to build a platform that could image the sun much more quickly than previous tools; the SDO captures data every 12 seconds, as opposed to once a minute. In 2014, this allowed researchers to observe how a process called slipping reconnection, in which magnetic field lines disconnect and reconnect, can generate some of the sun's most massive solar flares. This activity had been theorized before, but not captured on film.
    \nThe other practical benefit of satellites like the SDO is that they capture solar flares in action and could theoretically give us advance warning before a major flare struck Earth. While the chances of a crippling flare are low in absolute terms, the consequences of being hit by another 1859 Carrington Event could be absolutely catastrophic
    .
    The observations made by the SDO could one day lead to better mathematical models that allow us to predict where such mega-flares are likely to form and how much danger they pose to Earth. The probe's primary mission was scheduled for five years and three months, but it should be able to operate for up to ten years, assuming no equipment failures or other issues.
    \nhttp://www.extremetech.com/extreme/199367-stunning-nasa-video-showcases-the-stunning-beauty-of-our-sun

     
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  2. Dude, thank you for sharing this.
    That was un-fucking-believably beautiful, humbling and epic.
    I imagine what it would be like to travel back in time and show Galileo this footage.. you know... before he went blind.
     
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  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b22HKFMIfWo
     
  4. Life would have never come into existence on Earth if not for our sun. And most of the atoms that our bodies are made of also come from stars; other stars that have gone super nova and spewed all their newly fused atoms into space. These atoms help form new planets like our own. It's funny to think that we are really all 'star stuff'. 
     
  5.  
    Did you just quote Neil Degrasse Tyson?
     
  6. #6 IDTENT, Mar 22, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 22, 2015
     
    Yes I think I may have, with that last line. I was trying to remember where I had heard it, but the more I thought, the harder it became to actually remember [​IMG]. Oh wait, on further inspection it may have actually been Carl Sagan. 
     
    “The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
    ― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
     
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  7.  
    Right, Degrasse was quoting Sagan.
     
  8. If you're bored, check out OP's excellent video link in slow motion.
     
    Youtube only goes down to quarter speed (which helps) but with the streaming video capture capabilities of the VLC media player plus VLC's on the fly motion controls you can watch those flickers and lightning fast ripples of energy with even more awe. 
     
    Among a zillion other things, VLC lets you play and save YouTube videos right from its desktop interface. Here's how:
     
    Get VLC and install, duhh
    \n1. Find a video on YouTube and copy the URL from the address bar
    2. In VLC, head to Media > Open Network Stream
    3. Paste the YouTube link in the box and click Play
    \nYou can record clips from YouTube videos as they're streaming in VLC by pressing the Record button in the player itself.
     
    The motion speed controls and other fun shit are in Tools/Customize Interface..
     
    When ya have what ya want, show and use them by selecting View/Advanced Controls
     
    Lotsa cool toys for when you're danked :)
     
  9. "before we can make an apple pie from scratch, we must first create the universe" ~Carl Sagan
     
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