NASA Snaps the First 360-degree Image of the Sun
Share This article
A little more than four years ago, NASA launched a twin pair of spacecraft as part of their STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) mission. The crafts traveled in opposite directions along the Earth’s orbit en route to positions on opposite sides of the sun. This past Sunday the two crafts reached their respective destinations and—for the first time—captured a 360-degree view of our local celestial heavy.
The space agency is now being fed a steady stream of images of the sun from opposite sides that they are able to combine into 3D models. The STEREO probes are specifically tuned to four wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet radiation which can be used to trace key aspects of solar activity such as solar flares, tsunamis, and magnetic filaments.
“With data like these, we can fly around the sun to see what’s happening over the horizon—without ever leaving our desks,” comments STEREO program scientist Lika Guhathakurta from NASA headquarters. “I expect great advances in theoretical solar physics and space weather forecasting.”
NASA has sent observatories to study the sun before, but this is the first time we have been given the ability to study solar activity from all angles as they occur. Even before the observatories were in their final position they were able to capture a newly-realized phenomenon: solar activity as “global” event. This past August, STEREO (along with NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory or “SDO”) observed a solar eruption that encompassed two-thirds of the stellar surface. An event (which will likely be proven routine), solar scientists have dubbed “The Great Eruption.”