Staring at the sun

[Kurt]

This is the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. Together with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, and the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment, it will capture the Sun at IMAX resolution every ten seconds. They will travel together inside NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. After its February 2010 launch on top of an Atlas V rocket, the SDO will capture images at almost four times the resolution of an HD TV, transmitting the results back to Earth at 130 megabits per second. Basically, this thing will be transmitting the equivalent of 500,000 MP3 per day, seven days a week. According to Dean Pesnell at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the potential for new discoveries is giganormous:

We'll be getting IMAX-quality images every 10 seconds. We'll see every nuance of solar activity.
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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BthDupBQXpQ"]YouTube- NASA | SDO: Exploring the Sun in High Definition[/ame]

 

[Geo]

There was a perfect atmosphere for staring at the sunset in Sowal last night. A giant round orange ball that you could look at without being in pain hung on for what seemed like forever before it ducked behind the water. Then it somehow (I'm guessing reflection off the water) became even brighter despite it being gone. I don't think the words I'm using adequately describe it but if u were here yesterday and saw the sunset u were lucky like me.

Cool post, Kurt.