NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

Launching in February 2010, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is the first satellite being launched for the sole purpose of studying solar weather in near-real time. An update by far over any past solar observatories, SDO will be able to relay information on solar activity in ten second intervals.

The key to this type of real time sun data is the measurement of extreme ultraviolet radiation, or EUV radiation. If humans were ever exposed to such radiation we would be barbecued in minutes. Luckily our atmosphere shields us from this type of radiation, but in outer space where a limited number of humans live and work these EUV rays could be deadly. This type of radiation could also effect our satellites and communications.

With our planet increasingly depending upon orbiting satellites for relaying information, real-time data on solar radiation is crucial. The instrument that will measure these ultraviolet rays is called EVE, or EUV Variability Experiment. Tom Woods, a scientist a the University of Colorado, says that "The EUV portion of the sun's spectrum is what changes most during a solar cycle," according to an article from the Space Fellowship.

This extreme ultraviolet radiation is what is observed during sunspot activity, according to a study in 1998 taken from data observed in a predecessor solar observatory, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Sunspots, which run in an eleven-year cycle, are currently at solar minimum and will be that way during the launch of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Measuring these extreme ultraviolet rays will be a first step to determining if there is a correlation between solar weather and earthly weather.

Sunspot activity and its link to earth's weather and climate has been controversial. Tree growth patterns, ice ages, and even global warming have been perhaps correlated to sunspot activity and the brightness of the sun according to Stanford University. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory will hopefully shed some light on the biggest light in our solar system.

Much of the controversy comes from whether this extreme ultraviolet radiation affects our upper atmosphere. Sunspots are actually cool spots on the sun's surface that allow some of the more powerful radiation from the interior of the sun to be ejected into our solar system. Much of this radiation is converted into visible light, or sunlight, at the surface of the sun. But sunspots allow some of this more intense energy to get through into the solar system and may cause disruptions in weather patterns and satellite activity. Powerful electromagnetic forces on the sun's surface create dark "holes" in the surface that allow this extreme ultraviolet radiation to come to the sun's surface.

What this radiation does and how much of it could reach the earth during a given time is the entire point of this NASA mission. When there are so many controversies about NASA's current mission, to see a mission aimed at answering a question about the earth and how it is affected by activity elsewhere in our solar system is a refreshing change from a possible mission to the moon or Mars. With so many questions about our own planet that need to be answered, it is my belief that NASA's science can help us to learn more about life on the Earth as much as it can about other planets.

NASA's SDO will give us a better picture of what the solar radiation is about and what it does. Measurements down to one nanometer of wavelength of radiation will give scientists unprecedented detail of measurements and data to pour through when making their conclusions about the sun. If all goes well, in six months humans will better understand the nature of not only our sun but also possibly our own planet too.