The Mysterious Little White Box

The little white box shows where the MDI high resolution camera is pointing (it's always in the center). Thus the scientists can tell when something interesting is coming up, and so take careful note of upcoming high resolution images.

In the example above, a nice active region is already partly in the box, and by the next day, will be totally enclosed in the box. Thus the scientists know to check the next day's high-resolution magnetogram to study that active region. Here's what the next day's high resolution image of the above active region actually looked like:

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This page is https://solar-center.stanford.edu/solar-images/white-square.html
Created by Deborah Scherrer Sept. 1997
Last changed by DKS Sept 17, 1997