Sun  ID: 12329

Snapshots from the Edge of the Sun

Released on September 1, 2016
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GIF of animated sun with corona and solar wind labels.

For the first time, using NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, scientists have imaged the edge of the sun and described that transition – from which the solar wind blows. Defining the details of this boundary helps us learn more about our solar neighborhood, which is bathed throughout by solar material – a space environment that we must understand to safely explore beyond our planet. A paper on the findings was published in The Astrophysical Journal on Sept. 1, 2016.

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Narrated video about discovering the boundary between the corona - the sun's outermost layer - and solar wind - the continuous stream of particles eminating from the sun.

Music credit: Shopping with Momma by Rik Pfenninger

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1 minute version of the video without narration.

Music credit: Shopping with Momma by Rik Pfenninger.

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30 second version of the video without narration.

Music credit: Shopping with Momma by Rik Pfenninger

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GIF showing the before (left) and after (right) video of the solar wind, as seen by NASA's STEREO spacecraft. Scientists used an algorithm to dim the appearance of bright stars and dust in images of the faint solar wind. This innovation enabled them to see the transition from the corona to the solar wind. It also gives us the first video of the solar wind itself in a previously unmapped region.
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GIF excerpt from processed STEREO data of the solar wind. Data credit: Craig DeForest, SwRI
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GIF of animated sun's magnetic field, corona, and solar wind. Scientists think that the sun's magnetic control over its material becomes weaker the farther out it goes. This creates a break in the material's consistency, marking the transition from the corona to the solar wind.
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GIF of animated sun's magnetic field, corona, and solar wind. Scientists think that the sun's magnetic control over its material becomes weaker the farther out it goes. This creates a break in the material's consistency, marking the transition from the corona to the solar wind.
 

Used Elsewhere In

New Mission Will Take First Peek at Sun’s Poles

Related

NASA's STEREO Solar Probes 10th Anniversary Live Shots

Credits

Genna Duberstein (USRA): Lead Producer
Craig DeForest (SwRI): Lead Scientist
Kathalina Tran (Wyle Information Systems): Lead Science Writer
Lisa Poje (USRA): Lead Animator
Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (USRA): Animator
Aaluk Edwardson (InuTeq, LLC): Narrator
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12329

This item is part of this series:
Narrated Movies

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Solar Wind
SVS >> Heliophysics
SVS >> STEREO
SVS >> Corona
NASA Science >> Sun