On December 2, 1995, the solar observatory SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) went into space. It was expected that the device will work for two years, but SOHO, having survived a number of breakdowns, is still exploring our star, and they want to extend its scientific program until 2022. N + 1 tells, shows and even lets you listen to what the observatory saw and found out, which has been peering into the fiery face of our star for a quarter of a century.
The title of the oldest device that continuously monitors the Sun belongs to the Wind probe, launched in 1994. However, he does not receive direct images of the star, but only determines the parameters of the solar wind, turning them into spectra and graphs. But SOHO can rightfully be considered the record holder for the duration of full-fledged observations of our star, which include taking photographs of the Sun.
The observatory’s job is to answer three important questions about the sun:
What is the structure and dynamics of the interior of our star?
what is the solar corona and why is it abnormally heated?
where is the solar wind born and how does it accelerate?
In addition, SOHO has become one of the main providers of space weather information for researchers, helping to predict it.
The observatory itself operates in a halo orbit around the first Lagrange point in the “Earth-Sun” system and is equipped with an arsenal of 12 scientific instruments. It can capture images of the star at various wavelengths and register flows of charged particles, electromagnetic fields and the vibrations of the sun.