SolarMonitor.org |
Includes
information on active regions and solar activity from the Global H-alpha
Network, Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), GONG+, and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
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Current solar images (NASA) |
Current solar images and links to resources for solar imagery.
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Solar Viewer Widget |
NASA's
Solar Viewer allows you to see today's images of the Sun on your desktop.
These near realtime images come from NASA/ESA's SOHO mission, NASA TRACE
mission, and the Big Bear Observatory. Please note: You will need the
Yahoo! Widget Engine for Mac or PC.
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Helioviewer.org |
Helioviewer.org is an open-source project for the visualization of solar and heliospheric data.
It has an easy to use interface which allows you to zoom, superimpose image layers, set layer opacity, and search earlier images by date.
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SOHO |
The
Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft is the great solar observatory
orbiting the Sun. A joint mission between NASA and ESA (the European
Space Agency), SOHO's 12 instruments capture images of the Sun in a
variety of "colors", from visible white light to the extreme ultraviolet.
On the SOHO homepage
you can find breaking news, hot shots of awesome current phenomena,
a Weekly Pick image, and special features.
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White Light
| A
current image of the Sun taken in "white," or visible, light. For reasons
unknown, this image has been artificially colored orange even though
light from the Sun is actually white, the "color" that results when
all other colors are combined.
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Farside |
This
image shows the current "farside", or backside, of the Sun. Obviously
we cannot directly see the back, but scientists who study how sound
travels within the Sun can find out where there might be active magnetic
regions. Thus they can locate sunspots that may be rotating into view
within a few days. For information on how these images are obtained,
see Magnetic Maps of
the Whole Sun. |
Farside: STEREO/GONG/MDI |
This page shows a side-by-side comparison between the most recent
STEREO beacon image, GONG far-side map, and SOHO MDI farside map. |
Magnetic Fields |
Storms
on the Sun are caused by disturbances to its complex magnetic fields.
These "magnetograms," taken by the MDI instrument on SOHO, detect the
strength and location of the magnetic fields on the Sun. Magnetograms
show "line-of-sight" magnetic fields -- that is, those either coming
directly towards us or going away from us. The black are regions of
"south" magnetic polarity (inward directed, or moving toward the center
of the Sun) and the white regions "north" (outward directed, moving
toward us) polarity. Grey areas indicate that there is no magnetic field
at all. (Any colors could have been chosen; the grey-black-white is
just a common convention, or choice.) For more information about magnetograms,
see The Sun -- a Magnetic
Star". |
Synoptic Chart |
Latest synoptic charts |
Animated Sun |
A
collection of solar images, strung
together in an animation. |
