The Sun LIVE via SOHO

[flynn]

This may of been on the ESA web site for a while but I've only just seen it.<br /><br />http://www.esa.int/esaCP/ASE08Y9KOYC_Protecting_0.html<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[spacester]

I'm afraid SOHO is too much taken for granted. The spacecraft is getting old - how much longer is it expected to continue with its essential mission? What happens if it suddenly fails? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

It's been up a long time, as spacecraft go, but it keeps plucking along. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> It's become invaluable in space weather forecasting -- if anything happens to it, I would expect somebody would arrange for a replacement. It would probably be another multinational effort (SOHO is a joint effort by NASA and ESA). It's lots of fun looking at the near-real-time pics from this spacecraft. You can see all of the latest images -- and movies! -- at The SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory. It has full-disc images of the sun in a variety of wavelengths as well as an unparalleled collection of coronograph images. SOHO's unique position at the Sun-Earth L1 point gives it a constant, unimpeded view of the Sun -- and puts it always directly between the Sun and the Earth. Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) usually hit SOHO about an hour before they hit Earth; it has instruments on board to quantify that, which is a fabulous resource for spacecraft operators; it lets them know whether or not they need to shut their spacecraft down temporarily to protect their circuitry. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[flynn]

Shes coming up for 10 years in December (since launch) I believe the orignal mission plan was for one 12 year solar cycle.<br /><br />For anyone thats interested heres the homepage.<br /><br />http://sohowww.estec.esa.nl/ <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[mikejz]

If i remember right the replacement is already in the works, it will be in a geosync orbit and downlink over 1TB of images per day.

 

[CalliArcale]

Hmmm....geosynchronous has the advantage of always being able to communicate with a single dedicated receiving site on Earth, but it has the notable drawback of not having a constant, unimpeded view of the Sun. It will also have to slew its cameras to track the Sun -- the alternative is to slew itself, which will interrupt comms. Also, it will lack SOHO's unique forecasting ability due to its position roughly one hour "upwind" of Earth. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>