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d minus ten nine

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eight

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seven

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six

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five

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four go for main engine start three

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two

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one

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zero and ignition and liftoff of the

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atlas 5 with the solar dynamics

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observatory

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launched on february 11 2010 and has

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been watching the sun for the last 10

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years providing key insights into what

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drives the sun's activity including the

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space weather that our astronauts and

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spacecraft must travel through

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during that time it has witnessed

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incredible solar events and enabled

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scientists to make many groundbreaking

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discoveries about the sun

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here are some of the highlights

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in 2011 scientists spotted a special

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kind of ripple on the sun called kelvin

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helmholtz waves which look like curling

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ocean waves

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they are also present on the earth but

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aren't the size of the united states

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on june 7 2011 sdo spotted a huge

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eruption of plasma on the sun this was

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the first time such a large event had

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been captured in such fine detail

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two months later on august 9th sdo

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observed one of the most powerful flares

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of this solar cycle flares are intense

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bursts of radiation caused by the

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release of magnetic energy sdo records

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in many different wavelengths including

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one tuned to some of the hottest parts

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of the sun allowing it to see the full

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extent of these solar explosions

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on december 15th comet lovejoy seemed to

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survive a close pass of the sun but

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broke apart a few days later

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in 2012 scientists used sdo's wealth of

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information to create a new and

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impressionistic way to further

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understand temperature change on the sun

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on june 5th venus transited the face of

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the sun an event so rare it won't happen

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again until 2117.

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in july sdo's high resolution and rapid

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imaging cadence captured a beautiful

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solar loop where hot plasma condensed

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out of the atmosphere or corona and

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stuck to the strong magnetic fields

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pushing through the surface

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on august 31st the sun had a huge and

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beautiful prominence eruption that

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early in 2013 sdo imagery helped

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astronomers see the early formation of a

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coronal mass ejection or cme and the

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reconnection events that result in solar

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flares

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cmes release giant plumes of material

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from the sun that speed across the solar

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system

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they can interact with earth's magnetic

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environment and are hazardous to

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spacecraft and astronauts

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the sun was very active in september and

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october first forming what almost looked

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like a canyon and then crackling with

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flares and cmes for a week

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comet ison made its way around the sun

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on november 28th thanksgiving day but

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unlike lovejoy it broke apart

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immediately

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the sun remained active in 2014 with

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many beautiful prominence eruptions and

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bright flares

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estio worked in tandem with the new

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satellite iris to help study these

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flashes

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on december 19th just in time for the

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holidays the sun put on its final light

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the sun has a cycle of activity lasting

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an average of 11 years called the solar

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cycle

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2015 marked the beginning of the

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decrease in this cycle with fewer flares

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and eruptions

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[Music]

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on may 10 2016

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sdo saw another transit this time from

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mercury

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it looks much smaller because not only

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is the planet smaller than venus it's

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also farther away from earth where sdo

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is orbiting at 22 000 miles above the

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surface in a geosynchronous orbit

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the solar cycle had its last gasp of

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activity in 2017.

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in july a large sunspot made its way

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across the face as the sun rotated

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then in september a final burst of flare

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activity including the strongest flares

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since 2001 exploded off the sun

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since this activity the sun has been

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pretty quiet sinking into the lowest

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point of the solar activity cycle

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scientists were still able to go back

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through old sdo data and discover a new

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kind of explosion called forced magnetic

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reconnection

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on november 11 2019 mercury transited

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across the sun again

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this time with a much more sedate

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sdo scientists are aiming to continue

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watching the sun for at least another

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three years and the spacecraft could

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even last another decade

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during this time it should witness the

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rise of the next solar cycle and an

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increase in solar activity

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without a doubt sdo's last 10 years

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changed how we looked at and thought