The Sun in all its glory

A full-size model of SOHO is on show at the Cité de l’espace in Toulouse (France).
Credit: Olivier Sanguy

For a little more than 13 years now, the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has been examining the Sun. By turning to this Enjoy Space page, you can see the images obtained with the main instruments of this satellite in real time.
This programme associates NASA with the ESA (European Space Agency) in the aim of monitoring our star as well as better assessing the impact that it has on our planet. We would reiterate for example that the Sun goes through an 11 year activity cycle which, some believe, could have an influence on certain weather parameters. More direct, are the effects of the solar flares which, if they are sufficiently powerful, can not only put astronauts in danger because of the radiation emitted, but also perturb power grids on Earth.
It is clear that the measurements and images gathered by SOHO’s instruments constitute a genuine treasure trove for scientists who want to study the recent activity of our star. It is for this reason that NASA and the ESA are offering a software application which authorises the interrogation of SOHO’s archives as well as their downloading via computer. This programme is free of charge and runs on different platforms (Mac, PC, Linux) as it is based on the Java environment. As you can see from the screencasts below, you can — following free registration — select periods of observation and recover data requested in this manner.

The interface of the SOHO Science Archive Java application can be used for recovering images and data from all observations made by the American-European satellite since 1996.
Credit: Enjoy Space screencast

A word of advise: do not try to make the query too “wide” (over too long a period), or the flow of available data could be particularly voluminous! Lastly, you should know that the images are in FITS format, especially designed for data from astronomical observations. In order to process it in Photoshop, use FITS Liberator or NASA’s fv programme, a multi-platform utility (Linux, Solaris, Windows and Mac) which authorises the reading and manipulation of FITS files.
13 years of the Sun’s life are now there for you to explore!

A raw image of SOHO in FITS format opened using the fv software.
Credit: Enjoy Space screencast

SOHO archives
(Java application downloading and consultation)

NASA’s fv utility for FITS images

FITS liberator for Photoshop
(can also be used for opening raw Hubble images)

Published on 1st December 2009

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