The solar thermal imager aboard the GOES-16 satellite captured its first bright images, which immediately revealed a 'hole' in the hot upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. Coronal holes are believed to be the primary phenomenon for space weather forecasting.
'Coronal holes are areas where the Sun appears darker due to the fact that high-speed plasma streams burst into interplanetary space and this zone itself becomes colder and has a lower density compared to its surroundings,' NASA said in a statement .
The new images were taken by the SUVI tool, which looks at the sun in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength range. It is designed to observe the entire solar disk 24 hours a day in order to provide frequent updates of solar activity.
Solar activity online
From time to time, solar activity is so strong that it can cause power outages or satellite breakdowns, so NASA and other space agencies are monitoring our star and trying to make the most accurate predictions of the impact of solar activity on our planet.
