# helioviewer_grab Small script that downloads a full-disk sun image from [Helioviewer](https://helioviewer.org) for a given point in time. It looks up the Helioviewer API for the data source matching the given keyword (e.g. `hmi_continuum`), fetches the image closest to the requested time, and saves it as a PNG in the current directory. ## Usage ```bash ./helioviewer_grab.py 2026-08-12T18:18:00Z hmi_continuum ./helioviewer_grab.py --list # show all available data sources ./helioviewer_grab.py --sources # short explanation of the most useful ones ``` Without arguments, example values are used (see the docstring in the script). `--sources` prints a curated, human-readable description for the most commonly used sources (AIA wavelengths, HMI, GONG H-alpha), what each one shows and roughly how detailed it is. For full-disk imaging, SDO/HMI (0.5"/px) and SDO/AIA (0.6"/px) offer the highest resolution among the continuously available sources. Here's a list of all available sources: ```yaml 0 SOHO/EIT/171 EIT 171 1 SOHO/EIT/195 EIT 195 2 SOHO/EIT/284 EIT 284 3 SOHO/EIT/304 EIT 304 4 SOHO/LASCO/C2/white-light LASCO C2 5 SOHO/LASCO/C3/white-light LASCO C3 6 SOHO/MDI/magnetogram MDI Mag 7 SOHO/MDI/continuum MDI Int 8 SDO/AIA/94 AIA 94 9 SDO/AIA/131 AIA 131 10 SDO/AIA/171 AIA 171 11 SDO/AIA/193 AIA 193 12 SDO/AIA/211 AIA 211 13 SDO/AIA/304 AIA 304 14 SDO/AIA/335 AIA 335 15 SDO/AIA/1600 AIA 1600 16 SDO/AIA/1700 AIA 1700 17 SDO/AIA/4500 AIA 4500 18 SDO/HMI/continuum HMI Int 19 SDO/HMI/magnetogram HMI Mag 20 STEREO_A/SECCHI/EUVI/171 EUVI-A 171 21 STEREO_A/SECCHI/EUVI/195 EUVI-A 195 22 STEREO_A/SECCHI/EUVI/284 EUVI-A 284 23 STEREO_A/SECCHI/EUVI/304 EUVI-A 304 24 STEREO_B/SECCHI/EUVI/171 EUVI-B 171 25 STEREO_B/SECCHI/EUVI/195 EUVI-B 195 26 STEREO_B/SECCHI/EUVI/284 EUVI-B 284 27 STEREO_B/SECCHI/EUVI/304 EUVI-B 304 28 STEREO_A/SECCHI/COR1/white-light COR1-A 29 STEREO_A/SECCHI/COR2/white-light COR2-A 30 STEREO_B/SECCHI/COR1/white-light COR1-B 31 STEREO_B/SECCHI/COR2/white-light COR2-B 32 PROBA2/SWAP/174 SWAP 174 33 Yohkoh/SXT/AlMgMn SXT AlMgMn 34 Yohkoh/SXT/thin-Al SXT thin-Al 35 Yohkoh/SXT/white-light SXT white-light 39 Hinode/XRT/Al_med/Al_thick XRT Al_med/Al_thick 40 Hinode/XRT/Al_med/Be_thick XRT Al_med/Be_thick 42 Hinode/XRT/Al_med/Open XRT Al_med/Open 43 Hinode/XRT/Al_med/Ti_poly XRT Al_med/Ti_poly 44 Hinode/XRT/Al_poly/Al_mesh XRT Al_poly/Al_mesh 45 Hinode/XRT/Al_poly/Al_thick XRT Al_poly/Al_thick 46 Hinode/XRT/Al_poly/Be_thick XRT Al_poly/Be_thick 48 Hinode/XRT/Al_poly/Open XRT Al_poly/Open 49 Hinode/XRT/Al_poly/Ti_poly XRT Al_poly/Ti_poly 54 Hinode/XRT/Be_med/Open XRT Be_med/Open 60 Hinode/XRT/Be_thin/Open XRT Be_thin/Open 62 Hinode/XRT/C_poly/Al_mesh XRT C_poly/Al_mesh 63 Hinode/XRT/C_poly/Al_thick XRT C_poly/Al_thick 66 Hinode/XRT/C_poly/Open XRT C_poly/Open 67 Hinode/XRT/C_poly/Ti_poly XRT C_poly/Ti_poly 69 Hinode/XRT/Open/Al_mesh XRT Open/Al_mesh 70 Hinode/XRT/Open/Al_thick XRT Open/Al_thick 71 Hinode/XRT/Open/Be_thick XRT Open/Be_thick 74 Hinode/XRT/Open/Ti_poly XRT Open/Ti_poly 75 TRACE/171 TRACE 171 76 TRACE/195 TRACE 195 77 TRACE/284 TRACE 284 78 TRACE/1216 TRACE 1216 79 TRACE/1550 TRACE 1550 80 TRACE/1600 TRACE 1600 81 TRACE/1700 TRACE 1700 82 TRACE/white-light TRACE white-light 83 MLSO/COSMO/KCor/735 COSMO KCor 84 SOLO/EUI/FSI/174 EUI FSI 174 85 SOLO/EUI/FSI/304 EUI FSI 304 86 SOLO/EUI/HRI/174 EUI HRI 174 87 SOLO/EUI/HRI/1216 EUI HRI 1216 88 IRIS/SJI/1330 IRIS SJI 1330 89 IRIS/SJI/2796 IRIS SJI 2796 90 IRIS/SJI/1400 IRIS SJI 1400 92 IRIS/SJI/2832 IRIS SJI 2832 94 GONG/GONG/H-alpha/6562 GONG H-alpha 95 RHESSI/3-6keV/Back Projection RHESSI 96 RHESSI/6-12keV/Back Projection RHESSI 97 RHESSI/12-25keV/Back Projection RHESSI 98 RHESSI/25-50keV/Back Projection RHESSI 99 RHESSI/50-100keV/Back Projection RHESSI 100 RHESSI/100-300keV/Back Projection RHESSI 101 RHESSI/3-6keV/Clean RHESSI 102 RHESSI/6-12keV/Clean RHESSI 103 RHESSI/12-25keV/Clean RHESSI 104 RHESSI/25-50keV/Clean RHESSI 105 RHESSI/50-100keV/Clean RHESSI 106 RHESSI/100-300keV/Clean RHESSI 107 RHESSI/3-6keV/Clean 59 RHESSI 108 RHESSI/6-12keV/Clean 59 RHESSI 109 RHESSI/12-25keV/Clean 59 RHESSI 110 RHESSI/25-50keV/Clean 59 RHESSI 111 RHESSI/50-100keV/Clean 59 RHESSI 112 RHESSI/100-300keV/Clean 59 RHESSI 113 RHESSI/3-6keV/MEM GE RHESSI 114 RHESSI/6-12keV/MEM GE RHESSI 115 RHESSI/12-25keV/MEM GE RHESSI 116 RHESSI/25-50keV/MEM GE RHESSI 117 RHESSI/50-100keV/MEM GE RHESSI 118 RHESSI/100-300keV/MEM GE RHESSI 119 RHESSI/3-6keV/VIS CS RHESSI 120 RHESSI/6-12keV/VIS CS RHESSI 121 RHESSI/12-25keV/VIS CS RHESSI 122 RHESSI/25-50keV/VIS CS RHESSI 123 RHESSI/50-100keV/VIS CS RHESSI 124 RHESSI/100-300keV/VIS CS RHESSI 125 RHESSI/3-6keV/VIS FWDFIT RHESSI 126 RHESSI/6-12keV/VIS FWDFIT RHESSI 127 RHESSI/12-25keV/VIS FWDFIT RHESSI 128 RHESSI/25-50keV/VIS FWDFIT RHESSI 129 RHESSI/50-100keV/VIS FWDFIT RHESSI 130 RHESSI/100-300keV/VIS FWDFIT RHESSI 131 PUNCH/WFI+NFI/Total Brightness PUNCH 132 GOES/CCOR-1/CCOR-1/white-light GOES CCOR-1 134 PUNCH/WFI+NFI/Polarized Brightness PUNCH 2000 GOES/SUVI/94 SUVI 94 2001 GOES/SUVI/131 SUVI 131 2002 GOES/SUVI/171 SUVI 171 2003 GOES/SUVI/195 SUVI 195 2004 GOES/SUVI/284 SUVI 284 2005 GOES/SUVI/304 SUVI 304 10001 Hinode/XRT/Any/Any XRT Any/Any 10002 Hinode/XRT/Any/Al_mesh XRT Any/Al_mesh 10003 Hinode/XRT/Any/Al_thick XRT Any/Al_thick 10004 Hinode/XRT/Any/Be_thick XRT Any/Be_thick 10005 Hinode/XRT/Any/Gband XRT Any/Gband 10006 Hinode/XRT/Any/Open XRT Any/Open 10007 Hinode/XRT/Any/Ti_poly XRT Any/Ti_poly 10008 Hinode/XRT/Al_med/Any XRT Al_med/Any 10009 Hinode/XRT/Al_poly/Any XRT Al_poly/Any 10010 Hinode/XRT/Be_med/Any XRT Be_med/Any 10011 Hinode/XRT/Be_thin/Any XRT Be_thin/Any 10012 Hinode/XRT/C_poly/Any XRT C_poly/Any 10013 Hinode/XRT/Open/Any XRT Open/Any ``` ## Requirements Only the Python standard library, no dependencies. With [devenv](https://devenv.sh), the right interpreter is available right away: ```bash devenv shell ``` ## Author Aaron Schmocker