On Feb. 6th, NASA's twin STEREO probes moved into position on opposite sides of the sun, and they are now beaming back uninterrupted images of the entire star—front and back.
"For the first time ever, we can watch solar activity in its full 3-dimensional glory," says Angelos Vourlidas, a member of the STEREO science team at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, DC.
NASA released a 'first light' 3D movie on, naturally, Super Bowl Sunday:
Scientists particularly want to better predict space weather and the violent eruptions that can spout from the sun's surface. These eruptions can damage satellites, disrupt communications and disable power systems on Earth.
"Solar missions such as STEREO and SDO not only give us more information about star formation and evolution throughout our universe, but are of vital importance in our quest to further understand the sun's processes and the effect they can have on our planet and way of life," said David Parker, director of space science and exploration for the U.K. Space Agency. "This spectacular 360-degree view is another triumph for the STEREO mission, which continues to obtain some of the best images yet of the sun."
The two identical spacecraft of the NASA STEREO mission were launched in October 2006. They are offset from one another, one flying ahead of the Earth and the other behind.
SDO is the first mission in NASA's Living with a Star program and was launched in February 2010. SDO's unique orbit allows high-resolution images of the sun to be recorded every three-quarters of a second.
"For the first time ever, we can watch solar activity in its full 3-dimensional glory," says Angelos Vourlidas, a member of the STEREO science team at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, DC.
NASA released a 'first light' 3D movie on, naturally, Super Bowl Sunday:
Scientists particularly want to better predict space weather and the violent eruptions that can spout from the sun's surface. These eruptions can damage satellites, disrupt communications and disable power systems on Earth.
"Solar missions such as STEREO and SDO not only give us more information about star formation and evolution throughout our universe, but are of vital importance in our quest to further understand the sun's processes and the effect they can have on our planet and way of life," said David Parker, director of space science and exploration for the U.K. Space Agency. "This spectacular 360-degree view is another triumph for the STEREO mission, which continues to obtain some of the best images yet of the sun."
The two identical spacecraft of the NASA STEREO mission were launched in October 2006. They are offset from one another, one flying ahead of the Earth and the other behind.
SDO is the first mission in NASA's Living with a Star program and was launched in February 2010. SDO's unique orbit allows high-resolution images of the sun to be recorded every three-quarters of a second.
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