A solar eclipse from SPACE … NASA probe captures the moon passing in front of the sun in stunning images that capture ‘lunar mountains backlit by solar fire’
- NASA spacecraft captured the moon passing in front of the sun from space in a stunning series of images.
- The solar eclipse was not seen from Earth and lasted only 35 minutes, but was caught on cameras from space
- Close-up images from Solar Dynamics Observatory show lunar mountain ranges backlit by swirling solar flares
- The Leibnitz and Doerfel ranges near the Moon’s south pole determined by NASA experts
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AND NASA The satellite captured stunning images of a partial solar eclipse from its unique vantage point in space—the only place it can be seen.
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) took a photo of the moon passing in front of the sun yesterday at approximately 05:20 BST (01:20 ET).
The transit took about 35 minutes, and at its peak, the moon covered 67 percent of the fiery surface.
According to experts at SpaceWeather.com, the spacecraft then provided a series of images of the event showing “moon mountains backlit by solar fire.”
The mounds and irregularities identified as part of the Leibnitz and Doerfel mountain ranges can be seen on the passing surface of the Moon.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of a 35-minute partial solar eclipse from its unique vantage point in space – the only place it’s visible
Solar Dynamics Observatory viewed the moon passing in front of the sun yesterday at 05:20 BST (01:20 ET)
According to experts at SpaceWeather.com, the spacecraft provided a series of images of the event showing “moon mountains backlit by solar fire.”
Patricio Leon of Santiago, Chile, compared close-up images of the Moon’s movement along the sun to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s topography map.
During the eclipse, he was able to detect the Leibnitz and Doerfel mountain ranges near the moon’s south pole.
Experts SpaceWeather.com “At the peak of the eclipse, the Moon covered 67 percent of the sun, and the lunar mountains were backlit by solar fire.
High-resolution images like this can help the SDO science team better understand the telescope.
They reveal how light is refracted around the ‘SDO’ optics and filter support grilles.
“Once these are calibrated, it’s possible to smoothen the SDO data for instrumental effects and sharpen the sun images even more than before.”
Launched in 2010, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watches the sun with a fleet of spacecraft and takes a picture of it every 0.75 seconds.
It also studies the sun’s magnetic field, atmosphere, sunspots, and other aspects that affect activity during the 11-year solar cycle.
The Sun has been experiencing high activity for several months as it enters a particularly active period of its 11-year activity cycle that began in 2019 and is expected to peak in 2025.
The sun’s magnetic poles rotate at the peak of the solar activity cycle, and a solar wind of charged particles pushes the magnetic field away from the sun’s surface and out of the solar system.
This is accompanied by an increase in solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun’s surface.
A CME is a significant release of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the sun’s corona (the outermost part of the solar atmosphere) to the solar wind.
CMEs affect Earth only when aiming in the direction of our planet, and They tend to be much slower than solar flares because they move larger amounts of matter.
Patricio Leon of Santiago, Chile, compared close-up images of the Moon’s movement along the sun to a topography map from the Lunar Rover.
Pictured here, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) examines how solar activity occurs and how space weather results from that activity.
AEnergy from a flare can disrupt the atmospheric field through which radio waves pass, causing temporary interruptions to navigation and communication signals.
CMEs, on the other hand, have the power to repel Earth’s magnetic fields, creating currents that push particles toward Earth’s poles.
When these react with oxygen and nitrogen, they help form the aurora, also known as the Northern and Southern Lights.
Additionally, magnetic changes can affect various human technologies, causing GPS coordinates to deviate by several yards and overloading power grids when utility companies are not prepared.
There has been no extreme CME or solar flare in the modern world – the last of which was the Carrington Event of 1859 – creating a geomagnetic storm with a globally visible aurora, as well as fires at telegraph stations.
WHAT IS NASA’S SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATION SATELLITE?
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a NASA mission that has been observing the sun since 2010.
Ultra-HD cameras convert different wavelengths into an image that humans can see, and then the light is tinted in a rainbow of colors.
The satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral on February 11, 2010.
SDO includes a set of tools that provide observations that will lead to a more complete understanding of solar dynamics driving variability around the Earth.
One of the many incredible images SDO provides
Tasks this instrument set can accomplish include measuring ultraviolet light, changes in the sun’s magnetic field, taking images of the chromosphere and inner corona, and capturing solar variations that can exist during different time periods of a solar cycle.
It does this using three separate pieces of equipment: Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager; Atmospheric Imaging Installation; and the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Assay.
Science Teams take this data, then process it, analyze it, archive it and make it public.
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