2004 SPACE SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| A SORCE FOR CELEBRATION - ONE-YEAR MARK
| G04-009 | 02/19/04 | 00:07:26 | January marked the first anniversary of NASA's SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE). In concert with other satellites, SORCE's observations of the Sun's brightness are helping researchers better understand climate change, climate prediction, atmospheric ozone, the sunburn-causing ultraviolet-B radiation and space weather.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): Recent Observations - SORCE is a continuity mission for solar irradiance reaching Earth. Prior to spacecraft in 1979, scientists did not have accurate data on the total output of energy from the Sun without atmospheric interference. In fact, measurements have revealed the Sun's output changed by 0.1% from the 1970s through 1990s. More recent observations have confirmed a cyclical rise and fall of output within the Sun's 11-year cycle of activity.
SORCE recorded unusual data from the massive record-setting solar flares in late October/November 2003. The most powerful flares ever observed in X-rays, including the absolute largest, were accompanied by large sunspots which produced a complex change in energy output; SORCE saw total solar brightness decrease by 3 tenths of one percent. To put that into perspective, the last time Earth experienced that sort of decrease, drastic climate change occurred and Earth experienced the "Little Ice Age." Of course, that 3 tenths of one percent lasted 50 years while this decrease lasted a week.
Courtesy: NASA / LASP
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| ITEM (2): Record-Breaking Flares From Sun - On Oct. 28 spacecraft tracked an unusually fast-moving X-17.2 sized flare - the second largest ever observed by SOHO. The same day that arrived, an X-10 flare set off another round of particles and another fast-moving CME. The spot blasted off one more flare Nov. 4 as the Sun rotated away. This one was X-28, making it the most powerful X-ray flare ever recorded. Only part of the associated CME was directed toward Earth, resulting in few aurora. (SOHO)
Courtesy: NASA / ESA
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| ITEM (3): Tracking The Solar Spectrum - Radiation from the Sun consists of electromagnetic waves that have a wide range of wavelengths. This animation shows where Earth absorbed the 70% of solar radiation and which parts of the spectrum reaches where. Only 1% of the Total Solar Irradiance is absorbed by the upper atmosphere - mostly UV radiation absorbed by stratospheric ozone. About 20-24% heads into the lower atmosphere (troposphere) and is absorbed by water vapor, trace gases, clouds and darker aerosols. The remaining 46-50% of visible light penetrates the atmosphere and is absorbed by the land and the oceans.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (4): Down to Earth: Solar Rays - Only about 70% of the solar energy that reaches Earth is absorbed, while the other 30% is reflected back into space by atmosphere and aerosols, ocean/land and clouds. A closer view reveals a delicate balance between absorption and reflection as well as a release of energy by rocks, air and sea warming and emitting increasing amounts of thermal radiation (heat) in the form of long-wave infrared light. This radiation allows Earth to lose heat at the same rate it gains from the Sun.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (5): A Slow Time - The Solar Cycle - One of the more interesting aspects of the solar events is that we are edging toward a tamer period of the Sun's 11-year cycle. With 'solar max' occurring between 1999 and 2001, sunspot counts and solar activity have been on the decline as seen in the animation. The actual movies are from the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) aboard the SOHO spacecraft and show a side-by-side view of solar minimum (1996) and solar maximum (2000).
Courtesy: NASA/ESA
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| ITEM (6): SORCE Spacecraft - The SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) maintains a 24-year legacy of solar output monitoring that should help explain and predict the effect of the Sun on the Earth's atmosphere and climate. With four instruments, it orbits Earth 15 times a day and analyzes the Sun's energy in visible, ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths that can be used to determine solar heating of Earth's oceans, ice, land and absorbing layers of the atmosphere. SORCE launched in January 2003.
Courtesy: NASA/LASP
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