Solar Dynamics Observatory V Sundog
Posted by BC on February 24th, 2010
On 11 Feb 2010, the Solar Dynamic Observatory was launched on its mission to help with solar studies. Even before SDO made orbit, it gave onlookers a view of something rarely (if ever before) witnessed.
As SDO rose through the levels of Earth’s atmosphere, it encountered a sundog. (A sundog is an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs when sunlight is refracted by ice crystals in clouds.) Passing through the cloud formation, shock waves can be seen as SDO climbs higher into the sky. The shock waves obliterate the sundog. Watch the video taken by Anna Herbst of Bishop, California.
