What Does the Sun Look Like? NOAA Satellite Captures Full Rotation of the Sun!

Did you know the sun ROTATES?! Once every 27.5 days actually. NOAA’s GOES East (GOES-16) satellite’s SUVI instrument captures this full rotation imagery as it monitors the sun’s atmosphere - a million-degree dynamic solar corona. Learn more: The sun keeps space weather forecasters on their toes. This short “movie” of the sun’s rotation from March shows why. That’s one-million-degree solar plasma in action! Solar changes have the potential to disrupt power grids, air navigation systems, and satellites, among other impacts. Our friends at NOAA NCEI (National Centers for Environmental Information) are sharing their knowledge about the sun’s activity for Space Weather Month throughout May. The Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) on #GOESEast, watches the sun constantly and began sending us images like this a year ago. NCEI stewards NOAA’s entire space environmental archive. Read NCEI’s Space Weather 101: Find #GOES data from NCEI: