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Live NASA Sun image: 12 SDO wavelengths from chromosphere to corona.

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This is a live image of the Sun. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographs the Sun every 12 seconds in 12 channels, each tuned to a different temperature in the solar atmosphere, and republishes the newest frame of each about every 15 minutes. The four frames below are the newest published in the 304, 193, 171, and 131 angstrom channels. The dashboard flips through all 12, plays the daily timelapse, and zooms to native pixel detail. These are photographs, not renders, and they cost nothing to view.

Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 304 angstrom wavelength, republished about every 15 minutes
The Sun right now at 304 angstroms, the chromosphere and transition region near 50,000 K, straight from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. NASA republishes this frame about every 15 minutes; reload for the newest one.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 193 angstrom wavelength, the corona and hot flare plasma
The same Sun at 193 angstroms, the corona and hot flare plasma between 1 and 20 million K.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 171 angstrom wavelength, the quiet corona and coronal loops
At 171 angstroms, the quiet corona near 600,000 K, where magnetic loops arch over active regions.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 131 angstrom wavelength, the channel where solar flares show brightest
At 131 angstroms, plasma near 10 million K. Nearly black on a quiet day; a flare lights this view up first.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 171 angstrom wavelength, the quiet corona and coronal loops
At 171 angstroms, the quiet corona near 600,000 K, where magnetic loops arch over active regions.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 131 angstrom wavelength, the channel where solar flares show brightest
At 131 angstroms, plasma near 10 million K. Nearly black on a quiet day; a flare lights this view up first.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 171 angstrom wavelength, the quiet corona and coronal loops
At 171 angstroms, the quiet corona near 600,000 K, where magnetic loops arch over active regions.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 131 angstrom wavelength, the channel where solar flares show brightest
At 131 angstroms, plasma near 10 million K. Nearly black on a quiet day; a flare lights this view up first.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 171 angstrom wavelength, the quiet corona and coronal loops
At 171 angstroms, the quiet corona near 600,000 K, where magnetic loops arch over active regions.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 131 angstrom wavelength, the channel where solar flares show brightest
At 131 angstroms, plasma near 10 million K. Nearly black on a quiet day; a flare lights this view up first.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 171 angstrom wavelength, the quiet corona and coronal loops
At 171 angstroms, the quiet corona near 600,000 K, where magnetic loops arch over active regions.
Live NASA SDO image of the Sun in the 131 angstrom wavelength, the channel where solar flares show brightest
At 131 angstroms, plasma near 10 million K. Nearly black on a quiet day; a flare lights this view up first.

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What are you 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.

What does the Sun look like in different wavelengths?

Each row is one SDO channel. Hotter plasma glows at shorter wavelengths, so the table runs from the visible surface up through the corona.

WavelengthShowsTemperature
4500 angstromsPhotosphere (visible surface)~5,500 K
1700 angstromsLower chromosphere~5,000 K
1600 angstromsTransition region / chromosphere~10,000 K
304 angstromsChromosphere / transition region~50,000 K
171 angstromsQuiet corona, upper transition region~600,000 K
193 angstromsCorona, hot flare plasma~1.0 to 20 MK
211 angstromsActive region corona~2.0 MK
335 angstromsActive region corona~2.5 MK
131 angstromsFlaring region corona~10 MK
94 angstromsFlaring region corona~6.3 MK
HMIBMagnetogram (magnetic field)n/a
HMIICContinuum (white light)~5,800 K

Which wavelength shows flares, sunspots, and the corona?

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 gold. 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 short video.

On August 12, 2026 the Moon blocked the Sun over Iceland and northern Spain; the record of that eclipse has the path and times. The next total solar eclipse is August 2, 2027, with six minutes of totality over Egypt: see the 2027 eclipse guide.

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