http://youtu.be/3od8-KCGc0g The Sun: July 1-31, 2012
Current exhibit at Russell Day Gallery, EvCC; Everett, Washington
Greg Kammer, Graphic Arts Department Head at Everett Community College
The Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) is a NASA mission which is observing the Sun for over five years. Launched on February 11, 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 that directly affect life and society. SDO’s goal is to understand the Sun’s influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and time and in many wavelengths simultaneously. SDO will investigate how the Sun’s 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. From Wikipedia
What Sound does the Sun make?
The Sun itself does not have a sound that you can hear from Earth. Sound requires a medium to travel through. Because space is fundamentally a vacuum, any sound the Sun makes on its surface does not travel to Earth. The sounds you hear were added by the artist to suggest what one might hear if you could hover in the atmosphere of the Sun.
The sounds you hear were composed from two sources. The underlying sounds of the Sun are the idling engines of the starship Enterprise D, from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The explosive and rumbling sounds are from a recording of a deep earthquake, and are used to add expression to the gigantic solar flares and plasma rain.
How was the Sun video created?
The video you see was created by the Solar Dynamic Observatory in July 2012. The images were collected and assembled using jHelioviewer software (
http://jhelioviewer.org) by Greg Kammer. Over 21,000 images of the Sun were compiled.
The video of the Sun was produced using Final Cut Video Pro video editing software and Sound Edit to mix the sounds.
The color of the Sun was produced by using an Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (ASA) 304 angstrom filter. These images show the Sun’s UV wavelength 304 Angstrom radiation units. Images like these help scientists see certain parts of the Sun’s atmosphere. The UV light is given off by helium at 60,000-80,000 degrees Kelvin.