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Solar Dynamics Observatory
The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a NASA mission which has been observing the Sun since 2010. Launched on 11 February 2010, the observatory is part of the Living With a Star (LWS) program.
The goal of the LWS program is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to effectively address those aspects of the connected Sun–Earth system directly affecting life on Earth and its society. The goal of the SDO is to understand the influence of the Sun on the Earth and near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and time and in many wavelengths simultaneously. SDO has been investigating how the Sun's magnetic field is generated and structured, how this stored magnetic energy is converted and released into the heliosphere and geospace in the form of solar wind, energetic particles, and variations in the solar irradiance.
The SDO spacecraft was developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and launched on 11 February 2010, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). The primary mission lasted five years and three months, with expendables expected to last at least ten years. Some consider SDO to be a follow-on mission to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
SDO is a three-axis stabilized spacecraft, with two solar arrays, and two high-gain antennas, in an inclined geosynchronous orbit around Earth.
The spacecraft includes three instruments:
Data which are collected by the craft are made available as soon as possible after reception.
As of February 2020, SDO is expected to remain operational until 2030. In August 2025, Nasa and IBM unveiled Surya Heliophysics Foundational Model, an artificial intelligence model trained on 9 years of observations from SDO. The model can be used to provide early warnings to satellite operators and helps scientists predict how the Sun’s ultraviolet output affects Earth’s upper atmosphere.
The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), led from Stanford University in Stanford, California, studies solar variability and characterizes the Sun's interior and the various components of magnetic activity. HMI takes high-resolution measurements of the longitudinal and vector magnetic field by viewing the entirety of the Sun's disk, with emphasis on various concentrations of metals in the Sun; specifically it passes the light (the variety of usable frequencies of which are centered on the solar spectrum's 617.3-nm Fraunhofer line) through five filter instruments including a Lyot filter and two Michelson interferometers to rapidly and frequently create Doppler images and magnetograms. The full-disk focus and advanced magnetometers improve on the capabilities of SOHO's MDI instrument which could only focus within the line of sight with limited magnetic data.
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Solar Dynamics Observatory AI simulator
(@Solar Dynamics Observatory_simulator)
Solar Dynamics Observatory
The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is a NASA mission which has been observing the Sun since 2010. Launched on 11 February 2010, the observatory is part of the Living With a Star (LWS) program.
The goal of the LWS program is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to effectively address those aspects of the connected Sun–Earth system directly affecting life on Earth and its society. The goal of the SDO is to understand the influence of the Sun on the Earth and near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and time and in many wavelengths simultaneously. SDO has been investigating how the Sun's magnetic field is generated and structured, how this stored magnetic energy is converted and released into the heliosphere and geospace in the form of solar wind, energetic particles, and variations in the solar irradiance.
The SDO spacecraft was developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and launched on 11 February 2010, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). The primary mission lasted five years and three months, with expendables expected to last at least ten years. Some consider SDO to be a follow-on mission to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
SDO is a three-axis stabilized spacecraft, with two solar arrays, and two high-gain antennas, in an inclined geosynchronous orbit around Earth.
The spacecraft includes three instruments:
Data which are collected by the craft are made available as soon as possible after reception.
As of February 2020, SDO is expected to remain operational until 2030. In August 2025, Nasa and IBM unveiled Surya Heliophysics Foundational Model, an artificial intelligence model trained on 9 years of observations from SDO. The model can be used to provide early warnings to satellite operators and helps scientists predict how the Sun’s ultraviolet output affects Earth’s upper atmosphere.
The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), led from Stanford University in Stanford, California, studies solar variability and characterizes the Sun's interior and the various components of magnetic activity. HMI takes high-resolution measurements of the longitudinal and vector magnetic field by viewing the entirety of the Sun's disk, with emphasis on various concentrations of metals in the Sun; specifically it passes the light (the variety of usable frequencies of which are centered on the solar spectrum's 617.3-nm Fraunhofer line) through five filter instruments including a Lyot filter and two Michelson interferometers to rapidly and frequently create Doppler images and magnetograms. The full-disk focus and advanced magnetometers improve on the capabilities of SOHO's MDI instrument which could only focus within the line of sight with limited magnetic data.