Super SUNday

Hey Space Placers!

We all know it is Super Bowl Sunday....but this is also an historic day in the study of our star, the Sun. Today, February 6th, for the first time in history, humanity can observe the ENTIRE Sun at once.
We can see the face of the Sun that faces away from Earth as well as that side we have always.

We are able to do this because of an ingenious solar mission that uses twin spacecraft that on this date reach their coverage positions.  STEREO A and STEREO B are positioned in space 180 degrees apart so that we can see all of the Sun. The picture below is the first ever all coverage photograph made of the Sun by STEREO A and B.

 

 We will now be able to study the whole Sun at once and see what is happening (developing) on the "back side" of the Sun. Such coverage will fill in gaps of observational data that up to now were based on just half of the picture.

Breakthroughs in solar science and space weather and solar activity forecasting - very important as Solar Maximum is set to begin just about any day now.

Read More About It: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/06feb_fullsun/

So go Steelers and Packers and STEREO A & B!!!!!!

Sky Guy in VA