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Comparing Wavelengths

Dec. 12, 2015
This side-by-side rendering of the Sun at the same time in two different wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light helps to visualize the differing features visible in each wavelength (Dec. 10-11, 2015). This image is from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

This side-by-side rendering of the Sun at the same time in two different wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light helps to visualize the differing features visible in each wavelength (Dec. 10-11, 2015). Most prominently, we can see much finer strands of plasma looping above the surface in the 171 Angstrom wavelength (gold) than in the 304 Angstrom wavelength (red), which captures cooler plasma closer to the Sun's surface. SDO observes the Sun in 10 different wavelengths with each one capturing somewhat different features at various temperatures and elevations above the Sun.

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PIA20214_Side_sideleft_sm.mp4
PIA20214_Side_sideleft_big.mp4

SDO is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Its Atmosphere Imaging Assembly was built by the Lockheed Martin Solar Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), Palo Alto, California.

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