Stereo Eclipse
NASA's Stereo A and Stereo B spacecrafts, launched in the fall of 2006, are on a mission to study the Sun. The spacecrafts have each taken up position in Earth's orbit around the Sun -- with Stereo A being 1 million miles ahead of Earth in orbit, and Stereo B being 1 million miles behind Earth in orbit. The orbits have been planned to afford the spacecrafts the ability to create stereoscopic images and videos of the Sun -- specifically, coronal mass ejections.
On Feb. 25 however, Stereo B made a cool video. In an exercise to calibrate its CCD detectors, the spacecraft made a movie of the Moon transiting the Sun. A couple of remarkable things show up on this video. Since the spacecraft is further away from the Moon than we are, the Moon appears smaller than the Sun -- unlike how we would see it on Earth. Secondly, because the spacecraft's cameras see in the extreme ultraviolet, the colours of the Sun are just plain alien.
Check out the video below.
On Feb. 25 however, Stereo B made a cool video. In an exercise to calibrate its CCD detectors, the spacecraft made a movie of the Moon transiting the Sun. A couple of remarkable things show up on this video. Since the spacecraft is further away from the Moon than we are, the Moon appears smaller than the Sun -- unlike how we would see it on Earth. Secondly, because the spacecraft's cameras see in the extreme ultraviolet, the colours of the Sun are just plain alien.
Check out the video below.
Comments
Post a Comment