Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)

SDO is a NASA mission launched on February 11, 2010 which will observe the sun for over five years. The observatory is a part of the living with a star program. 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. It will find out how the sun’s magnetic field is generated, structured and converted into violent solar events such as turbulent solar wind, solar flares and coronal mass ejections.