Solar Thermonuclear Art: Sun in 4K Ultra High Definition NASA Video

Summary: Solar Dynamics Observatory images of the sun in 4K ultra high definition are thermonuclear art in NASA Scientific Visualization Studio's Nov. 1 video.

still image from "Thermonuclear Art - The Sun in Ultra HD (4K)": The SDO Team, Genna Duberstein and Scott Wiessinger, Producers, Public Domain, via NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/SVS

On Nov. 1, NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio released “Thermonuclear Art” and four other 4K Ultra High Definition videos as part of the launch of NASA TV UHD, North America’s first non-commercial Ultra High Definition channel, by NASA in partnership with San Jose, California-based Harmonic Inc.

NASA’s video spotlighting solar thermonuclear art weaves dynamic sun images captured by the orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and dramatized with an effective soundtrack by Lars Leonhard, Dusseldorf-based electronic music composer. Although the sun’s blazing splendor in its daytime perch is not recommended for direct viewing, the 30-minute video welcomes enjoyably harmless viewing and benefits from Ultra High Definition technology to top over five years of beautiful captures of the sun’s photogenic dynamism as a roving, high-in-the-sky, photographing satellite.

The four other videos included in the release display the range of NASA’s current missions. “Synthesis: NASA Data Visualizations in Ultra-HD (4K)” uncovers “the elegant nature of our complex home,” in companionship with the moon and with the sun’s life-giving energy. “Pursuit of Light” uses The Hyperwall, a screen technology mostly perfected at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, to expand viewer perspective from Earth increasingly outward, from the solar system to deep sky, in fulfillment of “humanity’s imperative need to explore.” “Bennu’s Journey” concerns facts and mysteries enclosed within primordial asteroid Bennu. “Arctic B-Roll in 4K” focuses on meltwater from the Greenland Ice Sheet.

NASA’s legacy of trailblazing technologies has propelled the agency’s commitment to Ultra High Definition, also known as 4K Ultra HD, for image width of around 4,000 pixels. About 8 million pixels drive the high resolution format’s yield of spectacularly sharp images. NASA’s ultra high definition content includes images and videos generated on current missions, including the International Space Station. NASA also aims to use the super fine technology to re-master footage from historical missions.

Founded in 1988, NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio purposes to facilitate understanding of the space agency’s programs through the creation of animations, images and visualizations. Currently totaling over 5,500, NASA’s visualizations are available through the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center site (URL: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/) and are free to download.

The wow factor of NASA’s five 4K videos reflects the agency’s vision, “To reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind.” The intricacy required of the behind-the-scenes team of media specialists is revealed in the total production time of 300 hours, at a ratio of ten hours of input for one minute of footage.

On its YouTube channel, NASA Goddard describes “Thermonuclear Art – The Sun in Ultra-HD (4K)” as: “Presented in ultra-high definition, the video presents the dance of the ultra-hot material on our life-giving star in extraordinary detail, offering an intimate view of the grand forces of the solar system.”

4K graphic: NASA TV/Mark Hailey, Public Domain, via NASA

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

sun still image: The SDO Team, Genna Duberstein and Scott Wiessinger, Producers, Public Domain, via NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/SVS @ http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12034

Ultra High Definition example: NASA TV/Mark Hailey, Public Domain, via NASA @ https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-harmonic-launch-first-non-commercial-uhd-channel-in-north-america

For further information:

"NASA Enters World of Ultra-High-Def (4K) Video." NASA Goddard Media Studios. Nov. 1, 2015.
Available @ http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12034

NASA Goddard. "NASA / Thermonuclear Art - The Sun In Ultra-HD (4K)." YouTube. Nov. 1, 2015.
Available @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tmbeLTHC_0

Northon, Karen. "NASA, Harmonic Launch First Non-Commercial UHD Channel in North America." NASA Press Release. Sept. 11, 2015.
Available @ http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-harmonic-launch-first-non-commercial-uhd-channel-in-north-america