http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2010/11feb10/anna-herbst1.mov?PHPSESSID=2qj7gcbms92oesn20n88jrfmt0SDO DESTROYS A SUNDOG: The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on Thursday morning, Feb. 11th, kicking off a 5-year mission to study the variability of the sun. Moments after liftoff, SDO did something that astonished and delighted observers. It flew right through a bright, rainbow-colored sundog and destroyed it. Click on the image to launch a 10 MB Quicktime video recorded by13-year-old Anna Herbst of Bishop, California:
Sundogs are formed by plate-shaped ice crystals floating in cirrus clouds. "When SDO's Atlas V rocket penetrated the cirrus, shock waves went rippling through the cloud and destroyed the alignment of the crystals," says atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. "This extinguished the sundog."
Play the movie again and this time turn up the volume to hear the reaction of the crowd when the waves hit the sundog. "I've never seen anything like it," said Anna's friend and traveling companion Amelia Phillips. "It was amazing!"
This was an auspicious beginning indeed for a mission designed amaze. Once it reaches its final orbit, SDO will make IMAX-quality movies of solar explosions and peer beneath the stellar surface to see the sun's inner magnetic dynamo. No one has ever seen anything like that either. Stay tuned for updates.
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