Created as part of the NASA mission 10 years ago, on October 25, 2006, the twin of the STEREO spacecraft made it possible to study our star in a completely new way. Its capabilities allowed humanity to make a one-time survey of the entire star for the first time.
Today, thanks to the complex data received from the apparatus, scientists can track coronal mass ejections and energetic particles on the Sun and study the consequences of the impact of these processes on the Earth and other planets of the solar system.
Two STEREO observatories, STEREO-A and STEREO-B, were deliberately sent into space in opposite directions. Using gravitational fields from the Moon and Earth, the STEREO-A spacecraft was inserted into an orbit close to Earth. STEREO-B has a completely different situation: on the contrary, it was placed in a more distant orbit so that its rotation around the Sun was much slower. From year to year, the devices provided more and more new information about our native star.
“STEREO gives us a much better understanding of the sun, solar wind and solar activity,” said Terry Kucera, deputy supervisor for STEREO at NASA's Mission Control Center in Greenbelt. “The view from the far side of the Sun allows us to record more events and get fuller photos of each event.”
Sun Online
Sources: NASA
