NASA - First STEREO Images of the Sun

The two US stereo satellites launched by NASA in 2006 have arrived at their intended destination. They have each taken position on one side of the Sun. From there, they will collect data and observe solar phenomena. As a matter of fact, they have already started to transmit images.

NASA expects they will have a great role in finding out new information about the star at the heart of our system. Since their launch, the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (Stereo) satellites have been floating in different directions, to end up on opposite sides of the Sun. NASA said the satellites are already transmitting images of their side of the Sun and images are combined in order to render the first ever three-dimensional images of the star.

NASA announced that more images and films will become available over the coming days and weeks as data from the Stereo satellites is processed. Their mission is to study the solar eruptions and explosions that throw myriads of electrically charged particles towards Earth. Such particles could affect the normal functioning of satellites and power grids. These particles can also represent a threat to astronauts in space.

The particles, or coronal mass ejections, are clouds of plasma of billions of tons. They are already being monitored, and the three dimensional Stereo models that result from the operation are used to improve space weather forecasts for organizations interested in them, such as power companies, airlines, and satellite operators.

This success is to bring some clarity into solar mechanics. One of the issues by which researchers appear to be interested is the capacity of solar activity becoming “global” by eruptions on one side triggering similar events on the other side. The issue is even more intriguing since the August 2010 “Great Eruption” when more than half of the Sun’s surface was swallowed by flares feeding off each other, generating powerful shock waves.

Professor Richard Harrison from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK, one of the researchers involved in the project, told BBC News that the separate regions of the Sun appear magnetically connected as they show simultaneous activity and they generate activity in other locations.

Until now, scientists had to wait until the active region of the Sun rotated in a position visible from Earth in order to study it. This restricted much of the research, as the Sun’s corona is volatile and explosions can alter it in a matter of hours. Researchers will now be able to find the pieces they were missing in the puzzle by monitoring the whole surface of the star.

According to Richard Harrison, the Sun and the complex processes on its surface cannot be studied in detail if all researchers have are bits and pieces. He emphasized the need for a global view of the star in order to finally complete the jigsaw puzzle.

The satellites will continue to drift further apart to eventually meet and fade away. However, the Sun is also being constantly monitored by the Solar Dynamics Observatory and NASA estimates that there are eight years of Sun monitoring ahead using the two observation facilities – the satellites and the observatory.

Source : NASA Photo by : NASA Goddard Photo and Video