From Stonehenge to STEREO

On-screen animation shows the sun in space.

NARRATOR:

Humans have always wanted to learn about the sun, but it's dangerous to stare at it with just our eyes, so we built structures to help us study it.

Shot of Stonehenge at sunrise.

NARRATOR:

Aristotle had his camera obscura.

On-screen animation shows Aristotle using the camera obscura.

NARRATOR:

Galileo used a telescope to document sun spots.

On-screen animation shows Galileo using a telescope to reveal maps of sun spot activity.

NARRATOR:

Spectrometers came next, allowing us to study the spectrum of the sun's light.

Shot of a light colour spectrum seen with a spectrometer.

Shot of a black and white photograph of George Ellery Hale sitting at his desk.

NARRATOR:

100 years later, George Ellery Hale explored the magnetic nature of the sun with a spectroheliograph.

Shot of technical drawings for a spectroheliograph.

NARRATOR:

Next, we launched Skylab and it gave us our first high-resolution pictures of the sun's surface.

Various shots of Skylab and its images of the sun's surface.

NARRATOR:

The Yohkoh spacecraft took X-rays of the sun.

Various shots of X-rays of the sun.

NARRATOR:

Then SOHO and Hinode sent us even more incredible images.

Various shots of different types of solar imaging.

NARRATOR:

TRACE delivered the closest ever pictures of the sun and its magnetic fields. SDO images the sun in many wavelengths.

Various shots of the sun being mapped in 3D.

NARRATOR:

Now, with STEREO, we see the whole sun in 3D, never missing an inch.

Shot of satellite in space.

NARRATOR:

Who knows what we will see next.

Various shots of different types of solar imaging.

NARRATOR:

We will just have to keep looking up.

Shot of satellite in space.

(Satellite beeps)