Live NASA Sun image: 12 SDO wavelengths from chromosphere to corona.
The Sun looks different at different wavelengths. The NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory takes a fresh image of the Sun every 10 to 12 seconds in 12 different bands, each tuned to a specific temperature in the solar atmosphere. Lumara streams the latest image from all 12 channels and lets you flip between them, see the daily timelapse, and zoom into native pixel resolution. The image you see is real, live, and free.
What you are looking at.
The visible Sun is not the Sun's surface. It is the photosphere, the outermost layer of dense plasma where photons finally escape after bouncing around the interior for thousands of years. Above the photosphere is the chromosphere, a thin layer of cooler hydrogen. Above that is the transition region, where temperature spikes from 20,000 to over a million Kelvin in a few hundred kilometers. Above that is the corona, a million-degree-plus halo that extends millions of kilometers into space and is the source of the solar wind. Different wavelengths show different layers.
The 12 SDO wavelengths.
| Wavelength | Shows | Temperature |
|---|---|---|
| 4500 angstroms | Photosphere (visible surface) | ~5,500 K |
| 1700 angstroms | Lower chromosphere | ~5,000 K |
| 1600 angstroms | Transition region / chromosphere | ~10,000 K |
| 304 angstroms | Chromosphere / transition region | ~50,000 K |
| 171 angstroms | Quiet corona, upper transition region | ~600,000 K |
| 193 angstroms | Corona, hot flare plasma | ~1.0 to 20 MK |
| 211 angstroms | Active region corona | ~2.0 MK |
| 335 angstroms | Active region corona | ~2.5 MK |
| 131 angstroms | Flaring region corona | ~10 MK |
| 94 angstroms | Flaring region corona | ~6.3 MK |
| HMIB | Magnetogram (magnetic field) | n/a |
| HMIIC | Continuum (white light) | ~5,800 K |
Why this matters.
Sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections are easiest to see at specific wavelengths. The 171 angstrom channel shows the quiet corona at about 600,000 K in stunning gold detail. The 304 angstrom channel reveals chromospheric features in red. The 131 channel highlights flares at 10 million K. Together they let you see the same Sun from many angles. Lumara lets you switch between them in one tap, and the daily timelapse compresses the last 24 hours of activity into a smooth video.