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Credit & Copyright: Derek Demeter
(Emil Buehler Planetarium)
Explanation:
How does weather on the Sun affect humanity?
To help find out, the
European Space Agency (ESA) and
NASA have just launched the
Solar Orbiter.
This Sun-circling robotic spaceship will monitor the Sun's changing light,
solar wind, and
magnetic field not only from the
usual perspective of Earth but also from above and below the Sun.
Pictured,
a long duration exposure of the
launch of the
Solar Orbiter
shows the graceful arc of the bright engines of
United Launch Alliance's
Atlas V rocket
as they
lifted
the satellite off the
Earth.
Over the next few years, the
Solar Orbiter will use the
gravity
of Earth and Venus to
veer out of
the
plane of the planets and closer to the
Sun than Mercury.
Violent weather on the Sun, including
solar flares and
coronal mass ejections, has shown the ability to
interfere with power grids on the Earth and
communications satellites in Earth orbit.
The Solar Orbiter is expected to coordinate observations with the also Sun-orbiting
Parker Solar
Probe
launched in 2018.
Solar Orbiter to Space:
Watch the Launch
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Sun - launch
Publications with words: Sun - launch
See also:
- APOD: 2024 September 2 Á A Triangular Prominence Hovers Over the Sun
- APOD: 2024 August 18 Á A Solar Prominence Eruption from SDO
- Sky Full of SARs
- APOD: 2024 August 4 Á Gaia: Here Comes the Sun
- APOD: 2024 July 28 Á Sun Dance
- Prominences and Filaments on the Active Sun
- APOD: 2024 May 28 Á Solar X Flare as Famous Active Region Returns