Aimless In Space

My own suspicion is that the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.
--J.B.S. Haldane--


Rachael - Detroit - WSU

Mad Scientist-in-Training

Clastrophysicist (Classics/Astronomy/Physics)

This is my super spectacular (mostly) space blog!! I also enjoy math, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, jellyfish, Detroit, Futurama, and cats.
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Jupiter, acting all superior What you’re seeing is from the NASA/ESA satellite Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO. It stares at the Sun all the time, monitoring its activity. This image, from May 3, 2012 is from the LASCO C3, one of the cameras on board. It has a little metal paddle (called an occulter) to block the ferocious light of the Sun; that’s the black bar and circle. The white outline is the position of the Sun and its size in the image. You can see an emerging coronal mass ejection on the left: that’s the bulb-shaped thingy. It’s actually an incredibly violent expulsion of a billion tons of subatomic particles hurled away at high speed due to the explosive discharge of the Sun’s magnetic field… but that’s not why I posted this picture. You can also see streamers coming from the Sun; those are places where particles flow freely into space from the Sun. Basically, the magnetic field of the Sun trails into space in those locations, allowing the wind to escape. But that’s not why I’m showing you this picture, either. Look on the left. See that weird dot with the horizontal line through it? That’s Jupiter!

Jupiter, acting all superior

What you’re seeing is from the NASA/ESA satellite Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO. It stares at the Sun all the time, monitoring its activity. This image, from May 3, 2012 is from the LASCO C3, one of the cameras on board. It has a little metal paddle (called an occulter) to block the ferocious light of the Sun; that’s the black bar and circle. The white outline is the position of the Sun and its size in the image.

You can see an emerging coronal mass ejection on the left: that’s the bulb-shaped thingy. It’s actually an incredibly violent expulsion of a billion tons of subatomic particles hurled away at high speed due to the explosive discharge of the Sun’s magnetic field… but that’s not why I posted this picture.

You can also see streamers coming from the Sun; those are places where particles flow freely into space from the Sun. Basically, the magnetic field of the Sun trails into space in those locations, allowing the wind to escape. But that’s not why I’m showing you this picture, either.

Look on the left. See that weird dot with the horizontal line through it? That’s Jupiter!

Photo
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