This image of the Sun was taken by SOHO's EIT (Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope) instrument on 23 May 2006. EIT can take images of the solar atmosphere at several wavelengths, and therefore it is able to show solar material at different temperatures. In the images taken at 304 Angstroms the bright material is at 60 000 to 80 000 ºC. In those taken at 171, at one million degrees; 195 Angstrom images correspond to about 1.5 million ºC; 284 Angstrom, to 2 million degrees. The hotter the temperature, the higher you look in the solar atmosphere.

Credits: ESA, NASA, SOHO/EIT team

24 May 2006
New funding, to extend the mission of ESA’s venerable solar watchdog SOHO, will ensure it plays a leading part in the fleet of solar spacecraft scheduled to be launched over the next few years.

Since its launch on 2 December 1995, The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has provided an unprecedented view of the Sun – and not just the side facing the Earth. Two teams have now developed techniques for using SOHO to recreate the conditions on the far side of the Sun. The new funding will allow its mission to be extended from April 2007 to December 2009.
Despite being over ten years old now, SOHO just keeps on working, monitoring the activity on the Sun and allowing scientists to see inside the Sun by recording the seismic waves that ripple across the surface of our nearest star.

More than 2300 scientists have used data from the solar observatory to forward their research, publishing over 2400 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. During the last two years, at least one SOHO paper has been accepted for publication every working day.

SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. SOHO's science ranges from the Sun's hot interior, through its visible surface and stormy atmosphere, and out to distant regions where the wind from the Sun battles with a breeze of atoms coming from among the stars.

Credits: ESA


"This mission extension will allow SOHO to cement its position as the most important spacecraft in the history of solar physics," says Bernhard Fleck, SOHO’s project scientist, "There is a lot of valuable work for this spacecraft still to do."

During the next two years, five new solar spacecraft will join SOHO in orbit. ESA is involved in two of these spacecraft. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA) has built Solar B and will launch it later this year. ESA will supply the use of a ground station at Svalbard, Norway in exchange for access to the data.


Next year, ESA will launch Proba-2, a technology demonstration satellite that carries solar instruments. In particular, it will carry a complementary instrument to SOHO’s EIT camera. Whilst EIT concentrates on the origin and early development of solar eruptions, Proba-2’s camera will be able to track them into space.

NASA plans to launch the STEREO pair of spacecraft later this year, and the Solar Dynamics Orbiter in 2008. Far from making SOHO obsolete, these newer solar satellites embrace it as a crucial member of the team. SOHO will provide a critical third point of view to assist the analysis of STEREO’s observations. Also, SOHO’s coronagraph will remain unique. The instrument is capable of blotting out the glare from the Sun so that the tenuous outer atmosphere of the Sun is visible for study.


"By next year, we will have a fleet of spacecraft studying the Sun," says Hermann Opgenoorth, Head of Solar System Missions Division at ESA. This will advance the International Living With a Star programme (ILWS), an international collaboration of scientists dedicated to a long-term study of the Sun and its effects on Earth and the other solar system planets.

ILWS will possibly culminate in the launch of the advanced ESA satellite, Solar Orbiter, around 2015. It is designed to travel close to the Sun, to gain a close-up look at the powerful processes at the heart of our Solar System.

Source: ESA - News

Cool beans! Can't wait for more info.

After a long quiet spell without any strong solar storms, the sun unleashed a flare (M-class, which means moderate) and a fairly substantial coronal mass ejection on July 7. As seen in these four coronagraph images that span about three hours, a bright cloud of particles was blasted into space. Its source was the large sunspot at active region 898. These storms carry billions of tons of matter at millions of miles per hour. These coronal mass ejections clouds of energized particles may reach the Earth in two to three days, creating the possibility of some brilliant aurora displays further down from the North and South Polar regions than usual. Sometimes they can also create communication, navigation and satellite problems. However, in this case, due to its sharp angle off to the right, it is quite unlikely that we will experience any strong effects from this storm.

In coronagraph images, an occulting disk blocks out the sun and some of the area beyond it creating something like an artificial solar eclipse. The size of the sun is represented by the white circle.

Click on the image to open a larger version. Image Credit: NASA/ESA

Related Links:

+ NOAA Space Weather Report
+ Understanding Space Weather Effects


Steele Hill
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Source: NASA - Exploring the Universe - Watch the Skies

Comet SOHO-1185, the 1000th sungrazer

Credits: ESA, NASA SOHO/LASCO team

10 August 2006
Polish amateur comet hunter Arkadiusz Kubczak recently discovered his third comet in SOHO LASCO coronagraph images, but this one was special: the 1000th SOHO comet discovery in the Kreutz group of sungrazing comets.

While there is no formal definition of a 'sungrazing comet,' the term typically refers to the Kreutz-group comets, which have a perihelion distance of less than 0.01 of an Astronomical Unit (the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun), or some 1460000 km.
The 1185th comet discovered in data from the SOHO LASCO or SWAN instruments (the other 185 are not members of the Kreutz group), the faint object is officially designated C/2006 P7 (SOHO) by the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union.

Before the launch of SOHO in 1995 December, only some thirty members of the Kreutz group were known. All 1000 Kreutz comets are believed to be fragments of a single comet observed in c. 371 BCE by Aristotle and Ephorus, and the fragments themselves continue to fragment, making more sungrazing comets.

Source: ESA - News

wow thats awesome . thanks for the info.
by the way is anyone going to watch for any of the meteror showers known to be for tonight pacific coast north america . all i know is it is tonight and tommarrow night for sure and in california,.. look up dont trip . sarch for the sky.

Abecrombie

theres one

Top Left: Movies of the solar eruption from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft taken Aug. 13 through Aug. 16. Click on the image for a large movie or download a small movie | quicktime movie | high-res close-up | medium close-up. Credit: NASA/ESA Top Right: Close-up view on the active region from the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE). Click on image for movie or download the high-resolution still. Credit: NASA/LMSAL

Bottom Left: View of the aurora from the ground, taken by Patricia Cowern on Aug. 20 in Porjus, Jokkmokk kommun, northern Sweden. Credit: Patricia Cowern Bottom right: Photo by Markku Hirvenoja on Aug. 19 in Vojakkala, Loppi, Finland. Credit: Markku Hirvenoja

Scientists say that the next solar cycle of activity is close-by; read Backward Sunspot to check out the sunspot that may be starting the whole process.

In the meantime, this large sunspot, named Active Region 904, has been sputtering on for days on end. After watching it rotate into view on Aug. 9, it finally popped off a modest (C-class) flare and associated coronal mass ejection (CME) on Aug. 17 when it had rotated into a location where it practically faced Earth. Solar flares and CMEs -- associated giant clouds of plasma in space -- are the largest explosions in the solar system and can pack the force of a billion megaton nuclear bombs. They are caused by the buildup and sudden release of magnetic stress in the solar atmosphere above the giant magnetic poles we see as sunspots.

The coronograph movies from SOHO of the event show the CME cloud that headed towards Earth, triggering the auroras photographed two and three days later. The aurora, also known as the Northern and Southern Lights, form when solar particles and magnetic fields pump energy into the Earth's magnetic field, accelerating electrically charged particles trapped within. The high-speed particles crash into Earth's upper atmosphere (ionosphere) over the polar regions, causing the atmosphere to emit a ghostly, multicolored glow. Click here to download a movie showing this process (10.2 MB).

NASA's upcoming Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) will help researchers better understand space weather in order to make more accurate predictions and take better precautions. While a fleet of spacecraft already fly between the sun and Earth trying to gain a better perspective on the sun's powerful blasts, STEREO will be the first to provide a three-dimensional view. This additional information will help us understand how and why CMEs, the primary driver of space weather, occur and how they move through space.

Better prediction means more warning time for satellite and power grid operators to put their assets into a "safe mode" to weather the storm while a better understanding will help engineers figure out how to build better and more resilient systems. It's also important for astronauts working in space, who need to advanced notice to avoid the intense radiation associated with the storms.

More information:

+ NOAA Space Weather Report
+ Understanding Space Weather Effects
+ Exploratorium Site: Auroras Explained
+ Upcoming Aurora Mission, Aurora History, etc.

Other movies & resources:

+ Watch How Auroras Form
+ SOHO Images and Movies
+ September 2005 Auroras
+ September 2005 Flares
+ TRACE Home Page
+ STEREO Home Page


Rachel A. Weintraub & Steele Hill
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Source: NASA - Exploring the Universe - Solar System

The press release is reproduced below:

Sept. 18, 2006

Erica Hupp/Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1237/1726

Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-6535

RELEASE: 06-316

NASA Teams Up with Japan, United Kingdom and Europe to Study the Sun

To shed new light on the sun's magnetic field and how it impacts life on Earth, NASA is preparing major instrument components for launch this September on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Solar-B spacecraft.

"Solar-B will record how energy stored in the solar magnetic field is released as that field rises into the sun's outer atmosphere," said Larry Hill, Solar-B project manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.

Solar-B's three instruments -- the Solar Optical Telescope, the X-Ray Telescope and the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer -- will perform coordinated measurements of the different layers of the solar atmosphere. Continuous, simultaneous observations of specific solar features by all three instruments will enable Solar-B to observe how changes in the magnetic field at the sun’s surface spread through the layers of the solar atmosphere.

JAXA is the overall lead for the Solar-B mission, the spacecraft, the launch vehicle and management of space operations. NASA provided the Focal Plane Package for the Solar Optical Telescope, and components for the Solar X-ray Telescope and the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer, as well as engineering support for integration of the instruments.

The Solar Optical Telescope will be the first space-borne instrument to measure the strength and direction of the sun's magnetic field in the sun’s low atmosphere, also called the photosphere.

The sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, will be captured by the X-ray Telescope. The corona is the spawning ground for solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Powered by the sun's magnetic field, this explosive solar activity produces significant effects in the space between the sun and Earth. By combining observations from Solar-B's optical and X-ray telescopes, scientists will be able to study how changes in the sun's magnetic field trigger these powerful events.

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer will measure the speed of solar particles. The spectrometer provides a crucial link between the other two instruments, measuring the layers that separate the photosphere from the corona – an area known as the chromosphere and the chromosphere-corona transition region. The spectrometer will also be able to measure the temperature and density of solar plasma – the hot, ionized gas surrounding the sun.

"The information that Solar-B will provide is significant for understanding and forecasting of solar disturbances, which can interfere with satellite communications, electric power transmission grids, and threaten the safety of astronauts traveling beyond the safety of the Earth's magnetic field," said John M. Davis, Solar-B project scientist at NASA Marshall.

After its launch from Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima, Japan, the Solar-B spacecraft will circle Earth in an orbit that places the instruments in continuous sunlight for nine months each year. Following launch, NASA and the science teams will support instrument operations and data collection from the spacecraft operations center at JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science facility.

NASA; Lockheed Martin, Palo Alto, Calif.; the High-Altitude Observatory, Boulder, Colo.; JAXA’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (JAXA/ISAS), Sagamihara, Japan; and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Tokyo, participated in the development of the instrumentation for the Solar Optical Telescope. The X-ray Telescope was built by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Mass.; JAXA/ISAS; and NAOJ. The spectrometer was developed by the Mullard Space Science Laboratory of the University College London, United Kingdom; the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington; and NAOJ.

Solar-B is a collaboration among the space agencies of Japan, U.S., the United Kingdom and Europe. The mission is part of the Solar Terrestrial Probes Program within the Heliophysics Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about Solar-B, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/solar-b

- end -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: NASA Press Release 06-316

Mission Overview
Solar-B is an international mission to study our nearest star, the sun. To accomplish this, the Solar-B mission includes a suite of three science instruments -- the Solar Optical Telescope, X-ray Telescope and Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer.

Together, these instruments will study the generation, transport, and dissipation of magnetic energy from the photosphere to the corona and will record how energy stored in the sun’s magnetic field is released, either gradually or violently, as the field rises into the sun’s outer atmosphere.


Image above: An artist concept of Solar-B
Image credit: NASA/GSFC/C. Meaney

By studying the sun’s magnetic field, scientists hope to shed new light on explosive solar activity that can interfere with satellite communications and electric power transmission grids on Earth and threaten astronauts on the way to or working on the surface of the moon. In particular they want to learn if they can identify the magnetic field configurations that lead to these explosive energy releases and use this information to predict when these events may occur.

Led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Solar-B mission is a collaboration between the space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. NASA helped in the development, funding and assembly of the spacecraft’s three science instruments. Solar-B is part of the Solar Terrestrial Probes (STP) Program within the Heliophysics Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Solar Terrestrial Probes Program is managed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., managed the development of instrument components provided by NASA, with additional support by academia and industry.

Launch Date:
September 2006

Source: NASA - Missions - Solar-B

Launched in September 2006, Solar-B is an international mission with ESA participation. It will study the mechanisms which power the solar atmosphere and look for the causes of violent solar eruptions, leading to a better understanding of the complex connection between the Sun and Earth.

Credits: JAXA

20 September 2006
A new Japanese-led solar mission with ESA participation is preparing for launch on 23 September 2006. Solar-B will study the mechanisms which power the solar atmosphere and look for the causes of violent solar eruptions.

This will lead to a better understanding of the complex connection between the Sun and Earth.
Solar-B will be launched on 23 September 2006 at 00:00 CEST from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Uchinoura Space Centre in Japan. The satellite will be placed into a 96-minute polar orbit around Earth.


The orbit of Solar-B will be synchronised with respect to the Earth's revolution around the Sun. This particular geometry will allow the spacecraft to be in continuous sunlight for at least nine months a year during the planned mission duration of three years.

Credits: JAXA

The orbit will be synchronised with respect to the Earth's revolution around the Sun. This particular geometry will allow the spacecraft to be in continuous sunlight for at least nine months a year during the planned mission duration of three years.

The mission is designed to provide precise quantitative measurements of the Sun’s magnetic field – the major engine at work to trigger violent solar activity – which will lead to a better understanding of the Sun-Earth environment.


This illustration shows a CME blasting off the Sun’s surface in the direction of Earth. This left portion is composed of an EIT 304 image superimposed on a LASCO C2 coronagraph. Two to four days later, the CME cloud is shown striking and beginning to be mostly deflected around the Earth’s magnetosphere. The blue paths emanating from the Earth’s poles represent some of its magnetic field lines. The magnetic cloud of plasma can extend to 30 million miles wide by the time it reaches earth. These storms, which occur frequently, can disrupt communications and navigational equipment, damage satellites, and even cause blackouts.

Credits: SOHO/LASCO/EIT (ESA & NASA)

When the Sun's magnetic field lines interact with each other, huge amounts of energy are suddenly released in the form of so-called solar flares. Connected to this is the phenomenon of coronal mass ejections which hurl huge clouds of plasma into space. These eruptions have the power to heavily perturb the solar wind and – as a consequence – also cause major magnetic disturbances on Earth.

"Solar-B represents a very important step for solar physics," says Bernhard Fleck, ESA's SOHO Project Scientist. "With SOHO we have been studying the Sun for more than 10 years – we have probed its hot interior, through its visible surface, and studied its outer atmosphere out to distant regions where the wind from the Sun battles with a breeze of atoms coming from among the stars," he continues.


With its three advanced and highly sensitive telescopes (visible, X-ray and ultraviolet), Solar-B will be able to study the solar magnetic field at scales smaller than ever before, and connect its behaviour to the energetic and powerful processes at work on the Sun.

Credits: JAXA

"Thanks to ESA's and Norway’s participation in Solar-B, the European scientific community will now have access to a completely new set of data, complementary to that of SOHO," Fleck added.

"With its three advanced and highly sensitive telescopes (visible, X-ray and ultraviolet), Solar-B will be able to study the solar magnetic field at scales smaller than ever before, and connect its behaviour to the energetic and powerful processes at work on the Sun," he concludes.


International endeavour

Following the successful Japanese YOHKOH (Solar-A) mission, Solar-B is also the result of a truly international effort. This includes the leading Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the United States (NASA), and the United Kingdom (PPARC). As the senior partner, JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) is responsible for the spacecraft and the optical telescope, while the other two science instruments were assembled under Japanese supervision by the international partners in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has recently joined the team in the form of a coordinated endeavour with Norway, whose participation is led by the Norwegian Space Centre in Oslo, Norway.


ESA and Norway will provide ground station coverage for the Solar-B mission through the Svalbard Satellite Station (SvalSat), situated on the Norwegian Svalbard islands. SvalSat will receive the satellite data for each of Solar-B's 15 daily orbits.

Credits: NSC

ESA and Norway will provide ground station coverage through the Svalbard Satellite Station (SvalSat), situated on the Norwegian Svalbard islands. SvalSat is the only ground station in the world that can be used for every single orbit of Solar-B and will receive the satellite data for each of its 15 daily orbits.

"The joint venture between ESA and Norway to support Solar-B will basically double the scientific return from the mission," says Marcello Coradini, ESA's Coordinator for Solar System Missions. "The full ground coverage provided by the high-latitude SvalSat station will allow the full downlink per orbit of all the precious data collected by Solar-B. This will create benefits for the whole mission in general and for the European scientific community in particular. The latter – according to the agreement with JAXA - will now be able to access to the Solar-B data sets."

In addition, the cooperative endeavour between ESA and Norway will result in the creation of a Solar-B data centre, to be situated at the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo, Norway. A private company was subcontracted by the Norwegian Space Centre to provide all connections to the ground communications network infrastructures required to transport data from SvalSat to JAXA.



Solar-B is designed to provide precise quantitative measurements of the Sun’s magnetic field – the major engine at work to trigger violent solar activity such as solar flares and the powerful Coronal Mass Ejections.

Credits: JAXA

Joining Solar-B represents for ESA a programmatic choice, too. "Our participation in this new promising solar mission also strongly consolidates ESA's long-standing cooperation with Japan, already ongoing both in the fields of astronomy and solar system research," continues Coradini.

"From the ASTRO missions to study the high-energy universe to the future BepiColombo mission to Mercury, the European scientific community at large is collecting and will collect the fruit of such solid collaboration."

Note



Solar-B is a sun-pointing spacecraft that weighs 900 kilos. It carries three scientific instruments: a Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the first large optical telescope flown in space dedicated to observing the Sun; an X-ray Telescope (XRT), to provide coronal images at different temperatures; and a EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS), an optical telescope designed to measure the flows of hot gas down to a level of 1 kilometre per second.

Credits: JAXA

The ESA-Norway contribution to Solar-B consists of an overall investment of more than 11 million Euros (almost 8 million from ESA, and almost 4 million from Norway).

Solar-B is a sun-pointing spacecraft that weighs 900 kilos. It carries three scientific instruments:

• A Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the first large optical telescope flown in space dedicated to observing the Sun. Its aperture is 50-centimetre and its angular resolution up to 0.25" (corresponding to 175 kilometres on the Sun's surface). It covers a wavelength range of 480-650 nanometres.
  
• An X-ray Telescope (XRT), to provide coronal images at different temperatures. It is able to provide both full disk and partial fields of view. The temperature range it can observe will be from 1 to 30 million degrees Kelvin.
  
• A EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS), an optical telescope designed as an off-axis paraboloid with focal length of 1.9 metres and a mirror diameter of 150 millimetres. It will be measuring the flows of hot gas down to a level of 1 kilometre per second.

Source: ESA - News

The Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) press release is reproduced below:

Launch Result of the 22nd Scientific Satellite (SOLAR-B ) by M-V-7

September 23, 2006 (JST)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the 22nd Scientific Satellite (SOLAR-B ) aboard the M-V Launch Vehicle No. 7 (M-V-7) at 6:36 a.m. on September 23, 2006 (Japan Standard Time, JST) from the Uchinoura Space Center (USC). The launcher was set to a vertical angle of 82.0 degrees, and the flight azimuth was 149.3 degrees.

The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and after the third stage engine burnout, it was confirmed that the satellite was safely injected into its scheduled orbit of a perigee altitude of approximately 280 km and an apogee altitude of approximately 686 km with an inclination of approximately 98.3 degrees.

JAXA started receiving signals from the SOLAR-B at 7:21 a.m. (JST) at the Santiago Station, and from those signals we verified that the SOLAR-B had successfully separated from the launch vehicle and its solar array paddles (PDL) had been normally deployed.
The in-orbit SOLAR-B was given a nickname of "Hinode" (meaning "sunrise.")

We would like to express our appreciation for the cooperation and support from all related personnel and organizations that helped contribute to the successful launch of the SOLAR-B/M-V-7.

This information is also available on the following website: SOLAR-B/M-V-7 Countdown

Mission website:
Solar Physics Satellite "SOLAR-B"

For inquiries:
JAXA Public Affairs Department
Tel: +81-3-6266-6413 to 6, Fax: +81-3-6266-6910
Public Relations Team at the Uchinoura Space Center, JAXA
Tel: +81-994-31-6978

Source: JAXA press release

Hinode (former Solar-B ), was launched on Saturday
23 September 2006 at 00:36 CEST, from the Uchinoura
Space Centre in Japan on board a M-V launch vehicle.
The mission , led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA), sees the international participation of
the United States (NASA), the United Kingdom (PPARC),
and the European Space Agency (ESA) in a coordinated
endeavour with Norway.

Credits: JAXA

25 September 2006
Solar-B, JAXA’s mission to study the solar magnetic field, was successfully launched on 23 September 2006 at 00:36 CEST from the Uchinoura Space Center (USC) in Japan. The mission was renamed ‘Hinode’, meaning ‘sunrise’, after launch.

Source: ESA - News

Solar-B, International Mission to Study Sun, Successfully Launched


Image above: Solar-B, an international mission to study the sun,
launches from Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima, Japan.
Image credit: JAXA

Solar-B -- an international mission to study the sun -- launched Friday, Sept. 22 at 4:36 p.m. CDT from Japan. The launch vehicle flew smoothly, and mission controllers have confirmed the satellite's successful placement into its scheduled orbit. In orbit, Solar-B's newly given nickname is "Hinode" -- or sunrise. Led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Solar-B is collaboration among the space agencies of Japan, the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. The Marshall Center managed the development of the scientific instrumentation provided by NASA, with additional support by academia and industry.

+ View launch photos (JAXA)
+ View launch videos (JAXA)
+ Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Source: NASA - Missions - Solar-B

Image above: Artists conceptual drawing of the two spacecraft in orbit
around the sun.
Image Credit: NASA

STEREO Overview

STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) is the third mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes program (STP). This two-year mission will provide a unique and revolutionary view of the Sun-Earth System. The two nearly identical observatories - one ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind – will trace the flow of energy and matter from the Sun to Earth as well as reveal the 3D structure of coronal mass ejections and help us understand why they happen. STEREO will also provide alerts for Earth-directed solar ejections, from its unique side-viewing perspective adding it to the fleet of Space Weather detection satellites.

Why the need for STEREO? Coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are powerful eruptions that can blow up to 10 billion tons of the Sun's atmosphere into interplanetary space. Traveling away from the Sun at speeds of approximately one million mph (1.6 million kph), CMEs can create major disturbances in the interplanetary medium and trigger severe magnetic storms when they collide with Earth's magnetosphere.

Large geomagnetic storms directed towards Earth can damage and even destroy satellites, are extremely hazardous to Astronauts when outside of the protection of the Space Shuttle or the International Space Station performing Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs), and they have been known to cause electrical power outages.

CMEs: a Fundamental Science Challenge:

Solar ejections are the most powerful drivers of the Sun-Earth connection. Yet despite their importance, scientists don't fully understand the origin and evolution of CMEs, nor their structure or extent in interplanetary space. STEREO's unique stereoscopic images of the structure of CMEs will enable scientists to determine their fundamental nature and origin.

Source: NASA - STEREO - Mision Overview

Image above: Mounted onto the STEREO Spacecraft are four instrument
packages: SECCHI, SWAVES, IMPACT, and PLASTIC
Image Credit: APL

STEREO INSTRUMENT PACKAGES MOUNTED ON EACH OF THE TWO SPACECRAFT:

Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) will have four instruments: an extreme ultraviolet imager, two white-light coronagraphs and a heliospheric imager. These instruments will study the 3-D evolution of CME's from birth at the Sun's surface through the corona and interplanetary medium to its eventual impact at Earth.

• Principal Investigator: Dr. Russell Howard, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C.

STEREO/WAVES (SWAVES) is an interplanetary radio burst tracker that will trace the generation and evolution of traveling radio disturbances from the Sun to the orbit of Earth.

• Principal Investigator Dr. Jean Louis H. Bougeret, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Observatory of Paris, and Co-Investigator Mr. Michael Kaiser of Goddard, lead the investigation.

In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients (IMPACT) will sample the 3-D distribution and provide plasma characteristics of solar energetic particles and the local vector magnetic field.

• Principal Investigator: Dr. Janet G. Luhmann, University of California, Berkeley.

PLAsma and SupraThermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) will provide plasma characteristics of protons, alpha particles and heavy ions. This experiment will provide key diagnostic measurements of the form of mass and charge state composition of heavy ions and characterize the CME plasma from ambient coronal plasma.

• Principal Investigator: Dr. Antoinette Galvin, University of New Hampshire.

Source: NASA - STEREO - Spacecraft and Instruments

Twin STEREO Observatories Poised for Launch


Image above: Inside the mobile service tower on Launch Pad 17-B at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers check the placement of the
first half of the fairing around the STEREO spacecraft.
Image credit: NASA/George Shelton.
+ View High-Res Version

+ View additional STEREO photos
+ STEREO prelaunch photos


10.20.06 Status Update

With launch less than a week away, STEREO is safely encapsulated inside the protective payload fairing at the top of the Boeing Delta II rocket. The vehicle's second stage will be loaded with storable propellants on Monday, Oct. 23. The flight program verification, an integrated electrical and mechanical test which includes the STEREO spacecraft and upper stage booster, was successfully completed on Oct. 16.

The two-year STEREO mission is the first to take measurements of the sun and solar wind in 3-dimension. This new view will improve our understanding of space weather and its impact on the Earth.


Source: NASA - STEREO - Main

Twin STEREO Observatories Poised for Launch


Image above: Inside the mobile service tower on Launch Pad 17-B at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers check the placement of the
first half of the fairing around the STEREO spacecraft.
Image credit: NASA/George Shelton.
+ View High-Res Version

+ View additional STEREO photos
+ STEREO prelaunch photos


10.23.06 Status Update

With two days remaining until launch, STEREO is safely encapsulated inside the protective payload fairing at the top of the Boeing Delta II rocket. The vehicle's second stage will be loaded with storable propellants today.

The launch weather forecast is favorable, with virtually no concerns. A strong front is moving through the area later today, and high pressure behind it will result in favorable weather for Tuesday and Wednesday. There is a 5% chance of weather violating launch constraints, due to possible development of cumulus clouds.

The two-year STEREO mission is the first to take measurements of the sun and solar wind in 3-dimension. This new view will improve our understanding of space weather and its impact on the Earth.


Source: NASA - STEREO - Main

10.24.06 Status Update

The STEREO mission is about to begin. Safely installed atop a Boeing Delta II rocket, the twin spacecraft are ready for launch Wednesday at 8:38 p.m. EDT. The vehicle's second stage was loaded with storable propellants on Monday. The launch weather forecast remains favorable, with virtually no concerns. High pressure behind a passing front has brought pleasant conditions for the next two days. There is still only a 5% chance of weather violating launch constraints, due to possible development of thick clouds.

Upcoming Events
A prelaunch press conference from the NASA News Center at Kennedy will begin at 1 p.m. EDT today. A mission science briefing will immediately follow the press conference. Both events will be carried live on NASA TV.
+ View NASA TV


Source: NASA - STEREO - Main

An artist’s impression of NASA’s STEREO mission shortly after launch. European
scientists and engineers contributed to all of the instruments on the spacecraft.

Credits: NASA


25 October 2006
European experts have played an integral role in developing and building the instruments on NASA’s STEREO spacecraft. This exciting new solar mission will allow scientists to build on the work of the ESA/NASA SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission.

The STEREO mission consists of a pair of spacecraft that will separate after launch and move apart. This will allow them to look at the Sun simultaneously from different angles.

STEREO’s mission is focused on the study of extraordinary solar events known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). “A CME is a part of the solar atmosphere that has been blown off by a huge explosion. The CMEs are the link between the Sun and space weather,” says Richard Marsden of ESA, and a co-investigator on STEREO’s IMPACT instrument.

Space weather affects the Earth by producing the colourful aurorae. It can also be a hazard to satellites, in some cases destroying them by causing electrical short circuits. SOHO, a multi-faceted solar observatory that revolutionised our understanding of the Sun, began the detailed study of CMEs using an instrument called LASCO.


STEREO will study the Sun from two different viewpoints in space. The ESA/NASA
SOHO spacecraft will provide a third vantage point.

Credits: NASA

STEREO will build on the work of SOHO by tracking CMEs from the surface of the Sun to their impact with the Earth. In addition, having two viewpoints with STEREO allows scientists to construct quasi-three dimensional images known as stereoscopic images. “Even with two viewpoints, you won’t get the full story. If you want a full three-dimensional reconstruction of a structure, you need as many viewpoints as possible,” says Marsden.

That’s where SOHO comes in. The 11-year-old spacecraft will provide a third viewpoint that scientists can integrate with the STEREO data in order to gain an even more complete picture of the structure of each individual CME.

At the heart of STEREO lie four scientific instrument packages; all have been designed and built with European participation. The Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) is a suite of instruments that will chart the evolution of solar eruptions.

The STEREO/WAVES (SWAVES) instrument will track radio disturbances from the Sun to the orbit of Earth. Dr. J-L Bougeret, Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, is the principal investigator of this instrument.



STEREO’s IMPACT Solar Electron and Proton Telescope (SEPT) instrument. Parts
of this instrument were built at ESA’s ESTEC facility.

Credits: NASA

The In-situ Measurements of Particles And CME Transients (IMPACT) experiment will sample energetic particles released by the Sun and monitor changes in the magnetic field of space caused by the solar disturbances. Parts of IMPACT were built at ESA’s European Science and Technology Research Centre (ESTEC) in The Netherlands.

The PLAsma and SupraThermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) experiment will provide key measurements of the particles that make up CMEs, looking for differences between these and the electrically charged gas that the Sun emits all the time.

At ESA, Marsden is now working on the design of a new mission, called Solar Orbiter. Planned for launch around 2015, this spacecraft will travel closer to the Sun than any previous mission, giving scientists their first really close up look at the solar surface and the poles of the Sun.

Source: ESA - News

STEREO Poised for Launch


Image above:The Delta II rocket with the STEREO spacecraft at top
stands next to the launch gantry, ready for liftoff.
Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.
+ View High-Res Version
+ More STEREO prelaunch photos


10.25.06 Status Update

The STEREO mission is about to begin. Safely installed atop a Boeing Delta II rocket, the twin spacecraft are ready for launch today at 8:38 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The vehicle's second stage was loaded with storable propellants on Monday.

The launch weather forecast remains favorable, with virtually no concerns. High pressure behind a passing front has brought pleasant conditions for the next two days. There is still only a five percent chance of weather violating launch constraints, due to possible development of thick clouds.


Source: NASA - STEREO - Main

The Countdown is On for STEREO Launch


Image above:The Delta II rocket carrying the STEREO spacecraft awaits
launch along the Atlantic coast.
Image credit: NASA

10.25.06 Status Update

The twilight sky is clear and the countdown clock is running as NASA prepares to launch STEREO at 8:39 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The twin STEREO spacecraft are about to begin an illuminating mission investigating how special solar storms, called "coronal mass ejections," start and flow around the Earth. The satellites are loaded atop a Boeing Delta II rocket, which will loft each of them into an orbit on opposite sides of the planet to make their observations.

Tonight's weather forecast continues to look good. There is only a five percent chance of weather grounding the launch. According to forecasters, the minimal threat is posed by the possible development of thick clouds.


Source: NASA - STEREO - Main

The Countdown is On for STEREO Launch


Image above:The Delta II rocket carrying the STEREO spacecraft awaits
launch.
Image credit: NASA

10.25.06 Status Update

The twilight sky is clear and the countdown clock is running as NASA prepares to launch STEREO at 8:39 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The twin STEREO spacecraft are about to begin an illuminating mission investigating how special solar storms, called "coronal mass ejections," start and flow around the Earth. The satellites are loaded atop a Boeing Delta II rocket, which will loft each of them into an orbit on opposite sides of the planet to make their observations.

Tonight's weather forecast continues to look good. There is only a five percent chance of weather grounding the launch. According to forecasters, the minimal threat is posed by the possible development of thick clouds.


Source: NASA - STEREO - Main

Night Launch of STEREO is a Brilliant Sight


Image above:The Delta II rocket carrying the STEREO spacecraft lifts
off from Launch Pad 17B.
Image credit: NASA

Go STEREO! Go Delta!
NASA's STEREO mission got off to a spectacular start as the rocket carrying the twin satellites blazed through the starry sky after lifting off at 8:52 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Racing into space on the 12 flaming engines of a Boeing Delta II rocket, the spacecraft are on their way to investigating the origin of special solar storms erupting from the sun. Known as "coronal mass ejections," these storms travel at nearly 1 million mph and can knock out power on the ground. The rocket is delivering the STEREO spacecraft to opposite sides of Earth. There STEREO will map the structure of the storms in 3-D as they leave the sun and flow around the planet.


Source: NASA - STEREO - Main

The press release is reproduced below:

Oct. 25, 2006

Erica Hupp
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1237

Rani Chohan/Lynn Chandler
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-2483/2806

RELEASE: 06-340

NASA's First 3-D Solar Imaging Mission Soars Into Space

NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories mission, known as STEREO, successfully launched Wednesday at 8:52 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

STEREO's nearly identical twin, golf cart-sized spacecraft will make observations to help researchers construct the first-ever three-dimensional views of the sun. The images will show the star's stormy environment and its effects on the inner solar system, vital data for understanding how the sun creates space weather.

"The stunning solar views the two observatories will send back to Earth will help scientists get a better understanding of the sun and its activity than we've ever been able to obtain from the ground or any of our other missions," said Nick Chrissotimos, STEREO project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The two observatories were launched on a Delta II rocket in a stacked configuration and separated from the launch vehicle approximately 25 minutes after lift-off. After receiving the first signal from the spacecraft approximately 63 minutes after launch, mission control personnel at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Laurel, Md., confirmed each observatory's solar arrays successfully deployed and were providing power. NASA's Deep Space Network antennas in Canberra, Australia received the initial radio signals.

During the next two weeks, mission managers at APL will ensure all systems are properly working. For the next three months, the observatories will fly from a point close to Earth to one that extends just beyond the moon's orbit.

After about two months, STEREO's orbits will be synchronized to encounter the moon. The "A" observatory will use the moon's gravity to redirect it to an orbit "ahead" of Earth. The "B" observatory will encounter the moon again for a second swing-by about one month later to redirect its position "behind" Earth. STEREO is the first NASA mission to use separate lunar swing-bys to place two observatories into vastly different orbits around the sun.

Just as the slight offset between human eyes provides depth perception, this placement will allow the STEREO observatories to obtain 3-D images of the sun. The arrangement also allows the two spacecraft to take local particle and magnetic field measurements of the solar wind as it flows by.

During the observatories' two-year mission, they will explore the origin, evolution and interplanetary consequences of coronal mass ejections, some of the most violent explosions in our solar system. These billion-ton eruptions can produce spectacular aurora, disrupt satellites, radio communications and Earth's power systems. Energetic particles associated with these solar eruptions permeate the entire solar system and can be hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts.

Better prediction of solar eruptions provides more warning time for satellite and power grid operators to put their assets into a safe mode to weather the storm. A better understanding of the nature of these events will help engineers build better and more resilient systems.

"We're becoming more and more reliant on space technologies in our everyday lives and are hatching ambitious plans to explore our outer space surroundings," said Michael Kaiser, STEREO Project Scientist at Goddard. "But nature has a mind of its own and STEREO is going to help us figure out how to avoid those surprises the sun tends to throw at us and our best-laid plans."

For more information about STEREO, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo

Goddard manages the STEREO mission. The APL designed and built the spacecraft. The laboratory will maintain command and control of the observatories throughout the mission, while NASA tracks and receives the data, determines the orbit of the satellites, and coordinates the science results. Each observatory has 16 instruments, including imaging telescopes and equipment to measure solar wind particles and to perform radio astronomy.

The STEREO mission includes significant international cooperation with European partners in instrument development, data sharing and analysis.

- end -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: NASA Press Release 06-340

Night Launch of STEREO is a Brilliant Sight


Image above:The Banana River reflects the brilliant launch of the Delta II
carrying the STEREO spacecraft.
Image credit: NASA

+ View High-Res Version
+ More STEREO launch photos

Go STEREO! Go Delta!
NASA's STEREO mission got off to a spectacular start as the rocket carrying the twin satellites blazed through the starry sky after lifting off at 8:52 p.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Racing into space on the 12 flaming engines of a Boeing Delta II rocket, the spacecraft are on their way to investigating the origin of special solar storms erupting from the sun. Known as "coronal mass ejections," these storms travel at nearly 1 million mph and can knock out power on the ground. The rocket is delivering the STEREO spacecraft to opposite sides of Earth. There STEREO will map the structure of the storms in 3-D as they leave the sun and flow around the planet.


Source: NASA - STEREO - Main

The Boeing press release is reproduce below:

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 25, 2006 -- A Boeing [NYSE: BA] Delta II rocket today launched a NASA spacecraft to provide a new perspective on solar eruptions.

NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft will capture images of solar eruptions and other related events from two nearly identical observatories.

A Delta II 7925-10L vehicle launched STEREO into orbit. Lift-off occurred at 8:52 p.m. Eastern time from Space Launch Complex 17B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Following a 25-minute flight, the Delta II placed STEREO in a highly elliptical, near escape orbit to complete the mission.

"STEREO is another exciting mission for NASA to help them gain a better understanding of our universe," said Dan Collins, vice president and general manager, Boeing Launch Systems. "Our Delta team takes tremendous pride in our work, and we are extremely pleased to help NASA reach its goals."

STEREO's observatories are offset from one another in orbit. This placement allows STEREO to obtain 3-D images of the Sun and trace the flow of energy and matter from the Sun to the Earth. This unique 3-D imagery will allow scientists to examine the structure of solar eruptions and learn more about their fundamental nature and origin.

The mission's Delta II 7925-10L configuration launch vehicle used a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine, nine ATK solid rocket motors, an Aerojet second stage engine and a 10-foot diameter payload fairing.

The next Delta launch is DMSP F-17 for the U.S. Air Force aboard a Delta IV rocket planned for November from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $30.8 billion business. It provides network-centric system solutions to its global military, government and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems; the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world's largest satellite manufacturer; a foremost developer of advanced concepts and technologies; a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA's largest contractor; and a global leader in sustainment solutions and launch services.

###

Source: Boeing press release

Source: Boeing press release

The Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) press release is reproduced below:

Hinode Early Operations and Near-Future Plans

October 31, 2006 (JST)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC)

The sun-observing Hinode satellite (formerly Solar-B ) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center, Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, on September 22, 2006 at 21:36 GMT, aboard the seventh in JAXA's series of M-V rockets.For two weeks the satellite carried out orbit adjustments, and is now in a sun-synchronous orbit, which allows it to observe the sun for uninterrupted periods lasting months at a time.Hinode contains three instruments dedicated to observing the sun: the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS).Each of the instruments have now opened their protective doors and successfully commenced test observations.
Consequently, JAXA announces that the primary post-launch events of the satellite have been completed.

Currently, Hinode's power systems and attitude pointing are stable.For approximately the next month, activities will progress from testing the basic operational aspects of the telescopes, to implementing the scientific operation mode.During this period, from time to time we plan to release images and telescope-performance information on the homepage for each instrument, or through other sources.We expect to complete adjustments of the instruments and enter the scientific observation phase of the mission early in December 2006.At that time we intend to release a summary of initial scientific findings obtained from the test images.

Below is an outline of the initial instrument performance and plans for near-future Hinode activities.


1) SOT opened its front door on October 25, and immediately began taking engineering test images and performing focus adjustments.Attachment 1 shows an image taken during this testing phase with SOT's broadband filter.From this and similar images we have confirmed that SOT is achieving very high spatial resolution of 0.2 arcseconds, a primary objective of the instrument.We also have determined that the spectropolarimeter, SOT's primary instrument for detailed measurements of the solar magnetic field, is exceeding its expected levels of performance.Currently, however, proper performance of SOT's narrowband filter is limited to only a portion of the filter's field of view.The SOT instrument team is investigating measures to overcome this issue.

2) Shortly after launch, XRT experienced unexpectedly high temperatures near the front of the telescope tube.This resulted in its front door opening earlier than expected.Nonetheless, it successfully commenced taking high quality test images on October 23, and has been performing well ever since (attachment 2).We have verified that the telescope is meeting its expected level of performance, and the test images show that its observing capabilities exceed those of the highly successful soft X-ray telescope of the Yohkoh satellite, with spatial resolution reaching nearly 1 arcsecond.

3) EIS opened its door on October 28 and immediately began taking "spectroscopic imaging" data, allowing us to verify that it is operating properly.This instrument takes spectroscopic images using either a spectroscopic slit or a wider "slot." Data from EIS consist of mixed positional and wavelength information.We plan to release more complete test images after completing the analysis needed to extract the imaging information from the raw data.A preliminary spectral image is shown in attachment 3.

Figure 1: SOT First Light image.
Figure 2: An image of the sun's corona from XRT.
Figure 3: First Light results from EIS.
Reference images for Figure 2: (1 and 2) Full-disk solar images from XRT.
(3) Comparison between Hinode/XRT and Yohkoh/SXT coronal images.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------







---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mission website:

Solar Physics Satellite "HINODE (SOLAR-B )"

For inquiries:
JAXA Public Affairs Department
Tel: +81-3-6266-6413 to 7, Fax: +81-3-6266-6910

Source: JAXA press release

STEREO Sends Back First Solar Images


Image above: A close up of loops in a magnetic active region. These loops, observed by STEREO's
SECCHI/EUVI telescope, are at a million degrees C. This powerful active region, AR903, observed
here on Dec. 4, produced a series of intense flares over the next few days.
Credit: NASA

NASA's twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories (STEREO) sent back their first images of the sun this week and with them a view into the sun's mounting activity.

The image shows the first coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by STEREO's Ahead spacecraft, taken Dec. 9.

The other two images show the sun's super-hot atmosphere. They were taken on Dec. 4, the first day of imaging observations for the Ahead spacecraft. The false color images show a number of bright magnetic active regions, including one on the far left edge of the sun which later produced a series of high energy flares and CMEs.


Image above: A mosaic of the extreme ultraviolet
images from STEREO's SECCHI/Extreme Ultraviolet
Imaging Telescope taken on Dec. 4, 2006. These
false color images show the sun's atmospheres at a
range of different temperatures. Clockwise from top
left: 1 million degrees C (171 Å), 1.5 million C (195 Å),
60,000-80,000 (304 Å), and 2.5 million C (286 Å).
Click image to enlarge.
Credit: NASA

"We're absolutely thrilled. We've been looking forward to STEREO's unique vantage point for over 10 years now and the community couldn't be happier with these first views," said Michael Kaiser, STEREO project scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

"Now we're holding our breath to see what the next big CME looks like in 3-D, so we can really start to answer some interesting questions."

After a successful launch on Oct. 25 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., STEREO spent the first few minutes separating from its stacked configuration aboard the single Delta II rocket. Shortly afterwards, mission operations personnel at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, (APL) Laurel, Md., monitored the two observatories as they traveled in an elliptical orbit from a point close to Earth to one extending just beyond the moon.


Image above: The first coronal mass ejection (CME)
observed by STEREO. This image was taken on Dec. 9
with STEREO's SECCHI/Cor2 coronagraph. A coronagraph
blocks the bright disk of the sun allowing scientists to
see the sun's faint outer atmosphere, the corona. The
white circle shows the location of the solar disk. The
mass ejection can be seen on the right hand side of
the image as outward directed streak ending in a
faint ring.
Click image to enlarge.
Credit: NASA

"STEREO is the first mission using the moon's gravity to redirect multiple spacecraft, launched aboard a single rocket, to their respective orbits," said Ed Reynolds, APL STEREO project manager. On Dec. 15, 2006, mission operations personnel at the laboratory used lunar gravitational swingbys to alter the spacecraft orbits, redirecting the "A" observatory to its orbit "ahead" of Earth. The "B" observatory will swing past the moon a second time on Jan. 21, redirecting it to an orbit "behind" Earth. The two will orbit the sun from this perspective, separating from each other by about 45 degrees per year. Scientists expect the two to be in position to produce 3-D images by April 2007.

"Our ultimate goal is seeing solar flares and coronal mass ejections in 3-D to better understand their origin, evolution and determine whether or not they're a threat to Earth," said Russell Howard, principal investigator for SECCHI, the imaging instrument suite aboard both observatories. Howard and his staff are a part of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC.

Coronal mass ejections, - giant clouds of plasma shot out into space by the sun and X-ray emitting solar flares are the largest explosions in the solar system and can pack the force of a billion megaton nuclear bombs. They are caused by the buildup and sudden release of magnetic stress in the solar atmosphere above the turbulent active regions we see as sunspots.

The sun's million degree atmosphere taken on Dec. 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. The sun in light emitted at 1.5 million degrees C taken on Dec, 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. An image showing portions of the sun's atmosphere at 60,000 to 80,000 C taken on Dec, 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope.


Images above, left to right: The sun's million degree atmosphere (shown in blue) taken on December 4 by
STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. The sun in light emitted at 1.5 million degrees C (shown in green) taken
on December 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope. An image showing portions of the sun's atmosphere
at 60,000 to 80,000 C (shown in orange) taken on December 4 by STEREO's SECCHI/EUVI telescope.
Click images to enlarge.
Credit: NASA

When directed at Earth, CMEs can produce spectacular aurora and disrupt satellites, radio communications and power systems. Energetic particles associated with these solar eruptions permeate the entire solar system and may be hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts.

Each STEREO observatory has 16 instruments. The PLAsma and SupraThermal Ion and Composition (PLASTIC) team, housed at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H., started receiving data from its two instruments in early December. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, saw solar wind measurements from some of its In-situ Measurements of PArticles and CME Transients (IMPACT) instrument suite Nov.1. SWAVES the radio astronomy experiment, STEREO/WAVES, led by the Meudon Observatory in Paris, France obtained measurements just two days after launch on Oct 27.

“An integral part of exploration, heliophysics is the system science that unites all of the linked phenomena in the region of the cosmos influenced by a magnetically variable star like our sun,” said Madhulika Guhathakurta, NASA STEREO program scientist at NASA Headquarters, Washington. The STEREO mission represents the most significant upgrade and expansion to this system science as it will not only provide a rich package of upgraded sensors, but it will travel to new vantage points.”

Goddard manages the STEREO mission and APL designed and built the spacecraft. APL will maintain command and control of the observatories throughout the mission, while NASA tracks and receives the data, determines the orbit of the satellites, and coordinates the science results. STEREO is the third mission selected for NASA's Solar-Terrestrial Probe Program.

Rani Gran
Goddard Space Flight Center

Source: NASA - STEREO - Main

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory press release is reproduced below:

For Immediate Release
January 23, 2007

Media Contacts
Kristi Marren (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)
phone: (240) 228-6268
Kristi.Marren@jhuapl.edu

Rani Chohan Gran (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
phone: (301) 286-2483
Rani.D.Chohan@nasa.gov

NASA’s twin STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) spacecraft, built and operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Md., completed a series of complex maneuvers Sunday to position the spacecraft in their mission orbits. The spacecraft will be in position to produce the first 3-D images of the sun by April.

Spacecraft trajectories and lunar swingby maneuvers were created by mission design engineers at APL. “STEREO is the first mission to use the moon’s gravity to redirect multiple spacecraft, launched aboard a single rocket, to their respective orbits,” says Ron Denissen, APL STEREO project manager.

During the initial weeks following launch, mission operations personnel at APL guided both spacecraft through a series of four highly elliptical phasing orbits around Earth to position them for their lunar gravitational assists that propelled them into their respective mission orbits.

On Dec. 15, 2006, STEREO’s “A” observatory flew past the moon at a distance of approximately 4,550 miles (7,340 kilometers) above its surface, using lunar gravity to redirect the spacecraft away from Earth and into its orbit “ahead” of Earth.

The “B” observatory passed approximately 7,300 miles (11,776 kilometers) above the lunar surface where gravity is slightly weaker. Although the “B” observatory’s orbit was slightly boosted, the spacecraft didn’t undergo its full lunar gravitational assist until January 21 when it re-encountered the moon. The spacecraft then came within approximately 5,468 miles (8,818 kilometers) of the surface, swinging past the lunar body in the opposite direction of the “A” spacecraft and into an orbit “behind” Earth.

The two observatories will orbit the sun from this perspective, separating from each other by approximately 45 degrees per year. Just as the slight offset between your eyes provides you with depth perception, this mirror-image-like positioning of the spacecraft will allow them to take 3-D images and particle measurements of the sun.

Click on the thumbnail
image for a larger version.




FIRST IMAGES
During post-launch instrument checkouts, scientists got a close-up view of some intense solar activity from our nearest star, the sun, when the “A” observatory sent back its first images in early December.

When the cover to the “A” observatory’s SECCHI Extreme Ultraviolet Imager telescope was removed on Dec. 4, 2006, it captured images of a very powerful active region on the sun known as AR903 that produced a series of intense flares last month. SECCHI (Sun-Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation), built by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C., is the imaging instrument suite aboard both observatories.

A few days later during an unusually active solar period, the “A” observatory captured images of a coronal mass ejection with one of SECCHI’s two white-light coronagraphs.

Coronal mass ejections are giant clouds of plasma shot into space from the sun’s atmosphere. One of the largest explosions in the solar system, they can equal the force of a billion megaton nuclear bombs. When they collide with Earth at speeds approaching one million mph, CMEs can produce spectacular auroras and trigger severe magnetic storms. The energetic particles associated with these storms can cause electrical power outages, disrupt and/or damage communications satellites, and are often hazardous to astronauts.

Each STEREO observatory is carrying more than a dozen instruments per observatory. APL designed and built the spacecraft platform housing the instruments. When combined with data from observatories on the ground or in space, STEREO’s data will allow scientists to track the buildup and liftoff of magnetic energy from the sun and the trajectory of Earth-bound coronal mass ejections in 3-D.

STEREO’s instruments were built by numerous organizations worldwide with a principal investigator, or PI, leading each instrument team. The instruments and PIs are as follows: SECCHI – Russell Howard, NRL; In situ Measurements of PArticles and CME Transients (IMPACT) – Janet Luhmann, University of California, Berkeley; PLAsma and SupraThermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) – Antoinette Galvin, University of New Hampshire; and STEREO/WAVES (S/WAVES) – Jean-Louis Bougeret, Paris Observatory, Meudon.

STEREO is the third mission in NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Probes Program. STEREO is sponsored by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. NASA Goddard’s Solar Terrestrial Probes Program Office, in Greenbelt, Md., manages the mission, instruments and science center. APL designed and built the spacecraft and is operating them for NASA during the mission.

For more information about STEREO or to download additional images, visit http://stereo.jhuapl.edu/ or http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/gallery.shtml.

The Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is a not for profit laboratory and division of the Johns Hopkins University. APL conducts research and development primarily for national security and for nondefense projects of national and global significance. APL is located midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., in Laurel, Md.

Source: APL Press Release

March 12, 2007: When scientists announce they're about to calibrate their instruments, science writers normally put away their pens. It's hard to write a good story about calibration. This may be the exception:

On Feb. 25, 2007, NASA scientists were calibrating some cameras aboard the STEREO-B spacecraft and they pointed the instruments at the sun. Here is what they saw:

See the movie: small, medium or large.

"What an extraordinary view," says Lika Guhathakurta, STEREO Program Scientist at NASA headquarters. The fantastically-colored star is our own sun as STEREO sees it in four wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light. The black disk is the Moon. "We caught a lunar transit of the sun," she explains.

The purpose of the experiment was to measure the 'dark current' of STEREO-B's CCD detectors. The idea is familiar to amateur astronomers: Point your telescope at something black and see how much 'dark current' trickles out of the CCD. Later, when real astrophotography is taking place, the dark current is subtracted to improve the image.

In this case, the Moon served as a black calibration disk backlit by the sun. "The observation was no accident," she says. Mission controllers arranged the alignment with a small tweak to STEREO-B's orbit last December and engineers have been waiting for the dark current data ever since.

"The images have an alien quality," notes Guhathakurta. "It's not just the strange colors of the sun. Look at the size of the Moon; it's very odd." When we observe a lunar transit from Earth, the Moon appears to be the same size as the sun—a coincidence that produces intoxicatingly beautiful solar eclipses. The silhouette STEREO-B saw, on the other hand, was only a fraction of the sun's diameter. "It's like being in the wrong solar system."

The Moon seems small because of STEREO-B's location. The spacecraft circles the sun in an Earth-like orbit, but it lags behind Earth by one million miles. This means STEREO-B is 4.4 times further from the Moon than we are, and so the Moon looks 4.4 times smaller.


Above: STEREO A and B orbit the sun
on either side of Earth. [animation]

STEREO-B has a sister ship named STEREO-A. Both are on a mission to study the sun. While STEREO-B lags behind Earth, STEREO-A orbits one million miles ahead ("B" for behind, "A" for ahead). The gap is deliberate: it allows the two spacecraft to capture offset views of the sun. Researchers can then combine the images to produce 3D stereo movies of solar storms.

Of particular interest are coronal mass ejections (CMEs), billion ton clouds of electrified gas hurled into space by explosions on the sun. "STEREO's ability to see these clouds in 3-dimensions will revolutionize our understanding of CMEs and improve our ability to predict when they will hit Earth," she says.

The STEREO mission is still in its early stages. The two spacecraft were launched in Oct. 2006 and reached their stations on either side of Earth in January 2007. Now it's time for check-out and calibration. The first 3D views of solar storms are expected in April.

So science writers, ready your pens. If the calibration runs are any indication, the actual data will be something to write about.

Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

____________________________________________

More Information

STEREO home page -- at the Goddard Space Flight Center

Warning: the following movie is 32 MB in length and may require some time to download.

Bonus movie -- this version of the STEREO-B eclipse movie is a composite of data from the spacecraft's coronagraph and extreme ultraviolet imager.

New Solar Images Herald Better Solar Storm Tracking -- NASA press release
STEREO photo gallery

NASA's Future: The Vision for Space Exploration

Source: Science@NASA

The press release is reproduced below:

Mar. 21, 2007

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726

Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034

RELEASE: 07-72

International Spacecraft Reveals Detailed Processes on the Sun

WASHINGTON - NASA released on Wednesday never-before-seen images that show the sun's magnetic field