NASA's SDO Captures a February Solar Flare Triple Play

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spotted three X-class flares on the Sun between February 21 and 22, 2024. Watch this video to see what those events looked like in several wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light that SDO captures. The video opens with quick shots of the three flares in different wavelength blends. The first is a blend of 131 and 171-angstrom-light imagery, the second is 171 and 304, and the last is 171 and 1600. Each wavelength highlights different temperature plasma and reveals different layers and features of the Sun. 131 angstrom light shows both the extremely hot plasma of flares (6-10 million Kelvin) and cooler plasma (400,000 Kelvin). Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDOMusic: "Serene Reverie" from the album Reflections. Written and produced by Lars Leonhard.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.

4k frames and video of the Sun captured by SDO in 131-angstrom light. This sequence covers 21:00 UTC February 21 to 02:45 UTC February 23, 2024, at a cadence of one image every 36 seconds.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO

4k frames and video of the Sun captured by SDO in 171-angstrom light. This sequence covers 21:00 UTC February 21 to 02:45 UTC February 23, 2024, at a cadence of one image every 36 seconds.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO

4k frames and video of the Sun captured by SDO in 1600-angstrom light. This sequence covers 21:00 UTC February 21 to 02:45 UTC February 23, 2024, at a cadence of one image every 36 seconds.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO

4k frames and video of the Sun captured by SDO in 304-angstrom light. This sequence covers 21:00 UTC February 21 to 02:45 UTC February 23, 2024, at a cadence of one image every 36 seconds.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO