SDO sits in a geosynchronous orbit directly above a research station near La Cruces, New Mexico, and transmits data on our local star non-stop to two large dishes on the ground. Usually, this position gives SDO a stellar view (so to speak). But near the spring and autumn equinoxes, Earth gets in the way. Once a day for about an hour, the spacecraft, Earth and the sun line up perfectly, and SDO is briefly blind.

The “Sunpiter” image is a composite of images through multiple color filters and a black-and-white magnetogram taken just as the sun was emerging from blackout. Magnetograms, visual representations of the sun’s magnetic field, are compiled from a series of images spread out in time. The Jupiter-esque ribbons of color come from Earth’s shadow moving across the sun.

“Errors can be beautiful sometimes,” @NASA_SDO tweeted earlier today.

Eclipse season doesn’t end until October 6, so we may have a full week of bizarre sun photos to look forward to.

Via spaceweather.com

Image: NASA/SDO

See Also:

• New Space Telescope Delivers First Mind-Blowing Video of the Sun
• Video: The Butterfly Effect on the Sun’s Surface
• Psychedelic Sunspot Video Useful for Science, Too
• Solar Slumber May Have Been Caused by Magnetic Flows

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Authors: Lisa Grossman

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