On April 21, 2010, NASA released the first collection of images taken by its newest solar spacecraft, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Launched on February 11, SDO has already captured two significant events—a prominence and a solar flare—in unprecedented detail at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths. See these solar events in motion in AMNH's latest Astro Bulletin.

Even though you’ve been told never to gaze directly at the Sun, the SDO satellite allows researchers to do just that, at a resolution and with coverage never before achieved. With an array of four telescopes called the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), which observe at different wavelengths, SDO constantly monitors the Sun’s corona by taking one image every 10 seconds. Astronomers will use these images, along with data from other instruments onboard the satellite, to better understand the dynamics of solar activity and apply that knowledge to other star systems across the Universe.

During solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other eruptive events, the Sun ejects charged particles into the Solar System. As these particles near Earth, they can interact with Earth’s magnetic field and trigger space weather. Typically, space weather manifests itself as colorful auroras near the poles, but it can also disrupt radio communications and global positioning systems (GPS) on Earth. By using SDO to examine how eruptive events evolve, astronomers should be better able to predict space weather and help people prepare.

SDO’s work has just begun. Preliminary image collection began on March 30, and the mission is expected to run until 2015. SDO’s first crop of high-resolution images already gives an indication of the beautiful and valuable data still to come.

To learn more about other recent astronomy news, take a look at the Science Bulletins website.

Planck and Herschel, a pair of ESA satellites, have begun returning vibrant new images of the Milky Way Galaxy. The satellite duo is scanning the sky at infrared wavelengths that have not been well-studied in the past. Working in tandem, they will help astronomers explore the forces that have shaped our galaxy and the Universe from its early moments. Planck sweeps the entire sky to collect information on the coldest—and oldest—areas of the Universe. When astronomers have identified areas of particular interest using Planck, they use Herschel to hone in to get a detailed look at slightly different wavelengths.

The ESA recently released some of Planck's images that focus on our own galaxy. The above example, which was compiled with data from Planck and another infrared-detecting satellite, IRAS, captures tendrils of cold dust in a section of the Milky Way. Dark patches represent cooler clumps of matter. The brighter areas are much warmer mixtures of gas and dust, which is where stars are likely to form.

Both Planck and Herschel will continue to study the sky's coldest regions in the coming years, and together they will give astronomers an idea of how the Galaxy as we know it was formed.

To see what else astronomers are learning about our Universe, check out the Science Bulletins website.

A collection of small, clear quartz crystals unearthed in South Africa has given researchers from the University of Rochester a new clue about when our planet’s magnetic field formed. In the northern Limpopo province of South Africa, an arid, rocky terrain called Barberton Mountain Land has some of Earth’s oldest exposed stone—some more than three billion years old. By studying magnetized metal particles within ancient quartz found there, researchers discovered that the crystals formed in the presence of Earth’s magnetic field. The field that enveloped the planet at that time was only about half as strong as it is today, the scientists say. This discovery implies that our planet generated a weak magnetic field as far back as 3.4 billion years ago, well before the atmosphere became rich with oxygen (about 2.3 billion years ago).

This force field protected our young planet from high-energy charged particles in the solar wind and high-energy radiation emanating from the Sun. Now, billions of years later, this magnetic field sustains our current atmosphere. Without the protective shielding, charged particles streaming from the Sun would rip apart the water and oxygen in our atmosphere. Researchers think that the presence of our planet’s magnetic field was important for the development and survival of life on Earth as we currently know it.

Check out the Science Bulletins website to discover more new astronomy research.