Article Posted on : - Apr 23, 2010

A full-disk multiwavelength extreme ultraviolet image of the sun taken by SDO on March 30, 2010. Photo: NASA/Goddard/SDO AIA Team

WASHINGTON (BNS): NASA has released the first light images of sun taken by its recently launched spacecraft Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), on March 30th.

According to NASA, scientists have obtained a new capability to understand sun’s dynamic processes.

SDO images have shown details of material streaming outward and away from sunspots.

The real activities on sun’s surface were captured by the spacecraft. The spacecraft images brought the first high-resolution measurements of solar flares in a broad range of extreme ultraviolet wavelengths.

"These initial images show a dynamic sun that I had never seen in more than 40 years of solar research. SDO will change our understanding of the sun and its processes, which affect our lives and society. This mission will have a huge impact on science, similar to the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on modern astrophysics,”said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA has launched the SDO spacecraft on February 11, 2010 for exploring sun. During its five-year mission, it will examine the sun's magnetic field and also provide a better understanding of the role the sun plays in Earth's atmospheric chemistry and climate.

SDO will provide images with clarity 10 times better than high-definition television and will return more comprehensive science data faster than any other solar observing spacecraft, the statement said.