Caption

Solar Dynamics Observatory (SD0) first light image. This full-disk extreme ultraviolet image of the Sun shows the temperatures of gases on the solar surface and in the solar atmosphere. Red gases are cooler (around 60,000 degrees Celsius), blue and green are warmer (greater than 1 million degrees Celsius). A solar flare is seen at upper left. SDO was launched on 11th February 2010 on a five year mission to study how solar activity is created, how it affects space weather and how this impacts on Earth. Image taken by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument on 30th March 2010.