The Solar Dynamics Observatory completes third year eyeing the
Sun In the past year, SDO has opened up several new, and
unexpected, doors of scientific inquiry. February 13, 2013 On
February 11, 2010, NASA launched an unprecedented solar
observatory into space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
flew to its orbit aboard an Atlas V rocket, carrying instruments
that scientists hoped would revolutionize observations of the
Sun. If all went according to plan, SDO would provide incredibly
high-resolution data of the entire solar disk almost as quickly
as once per second. One of the highlights of NASA's Solar
Dynamics Observatory (SDO) during its third year in space:
observations of Venus' transit across the Sun. This image was
taken just as Venus was leaving the disk of the Sun at 12:15
a.m. EDT on June 6, 2012. // NASA/SDO/HMI When the science team
released its first images in April 2010, SDO's data exceeded
everyone’s hopes and expectations, providing stunningly detailed
views of the Sun. In the nearly thre