The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is designed to provide an unprecedented view of the solar corona, taking images that span at least 1.3 solar diameters in multiple wavelengths nearly simultaneously, at a resolution of ~ 1.2 arcsec and at a cadence of 10 s.

The primary goal of the AIA Science Investigation is to use these data, together with data from other SDO instruments and from other observatories, to significantly improve our understanding of the physics behind the activity displayed by the Sun's atmosphere, which drives space weather in the heliosphere and in planetary environments.

Web resources on the Solar Dynamics Observatory elsewhere:

• SDO's home at Goddard Space Flight Center.
• SDO's home at NASA/HQ.
• AIA home at Lockheed Martin.
• BBC: Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory returns first images.