The first mission in NASA’s Living With a Star program, a slate of projects focused around understanding solar variability, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) launched Feb. 11, 2010. The spacecraft carries three instruments: the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, made up of four telescopes that photograph the Sun in 10 different wavelengths; the EUV Variability Experiment, which monitors fluctuations in the Sun’s emissions; and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, which maps solar magnetic fields. Capable of returning images with clarity and detail that had previously been unheard of, the SDO uses its advanced suite of tools to better understand the Sun’s activity and how that activity affects Earth, as well as improve space weather prediction. The observatory is still undertaking that mission, returning approximately 1.5 terabytes of data per day to Earth.
