APL craft returns stunning 3-D images of the Sun
A pair of satellites designed by the Applied Physics Laboratory at Hopkins has just produced their first images of the Sun. The mission, launched late last year, is tasked with taking high-quality three-dimensional images of the Sun.
The satellites comprise the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission, part of efforts by NASA and APL to improve our understanding of the dynamic processes of the solar surface.
The STEREO mission is unique because it provides three-dimensional pictures, a first for space-bound observatories.
To achieve depth perception, the two satellites orbit the Sun and Earth at a slight offset from each other. As a result, a large portion of their respective "visual fields" overlap, a situation analogous to the human visual system.
Just like in the human eye, the use of two overlapping sensors allows for the detection of depth. Cameras on the two spacecraft take simultaneous images, which are then overlaid by scientists to produce the three-dimensional images. This is called binocular or stereoscopic vision.
The first 3-D images can be accessed at http://stereo.jhuapl.edu and on the NASA main page at http://www.nasa.gov.
The pictures appear to be three-dimensional when viewed through easily obtainable 3-D glasses, which polarize the light coming from the image and allow the brain to process it as if it were an actual object. (Two-dimensional images are also available for viewing online.)
Even these early images are a windfall for scientists at NASA, APL, and elsewhere. The various phenomena on the solar surface - events such as sunspots and solar flares - are characterized poorly and understood even less.
These few early images from the mission capture several distinct eruptions of material from the Sun.
One of the primary goals of the STEREO mission is to understand the solar phenomenon termed coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the most powerful and potentially deadly type of solar eruption.
The satellites comprise the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission, part of efforts by NASA and APL to improve our understanding of the dynamic processes of the solar surface.
The STEREO mission is unique because it provides three-dimensional pictures, a first for space-bound observatories.
To achieve depth perception, the two satellites orbit the Sun and Earth at a slight offset from each other. As a result, a large portion of their respective "visual fields" overlap, a situation analogous to the human visual system.
Just like in the human eye, the use of two overlapping sensors allows for the detection of depth. Cameras on the two spacecraft take simultaneous images, which are then overlaid by scientists to produce the three-dimensional images. This is called binocular or stereoscopic vision.
The first 3-D images can be accessed at http://stereo.jhuapl.edu and on the NASA main page at http://www.nasa.gov.
The pictures appear to be three-dimensional when viewed through easily obtainable 3-D glasses, which polarize the light coming from the image and allow the brain to process it as if it were an actual object. (Two-dimensional images are also available for viewing online.)
Even these early images are a windfall for scientists at NASA, APL, and elsewhere. The various phenomena on the solar surface - events such as sunspots and solar flares - are characterized poorly and understood even less.
These few early images from the mission capture several distinct eruptions of material from the Sun.
One of the primary goals of the STEREO mission is to understand the solar phenomenon termed coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the most powerful and potentially deadly type of solar eruption.
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