Tech | July 19, 2009 | 27 comments

First view of the dark side of the Sun

source: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/01/stereosun/

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EmperorThan
Soon we may get the first ever glimpse of the dark side of the sun.

Well, no, there’s no actual dark side of a luminous ball of burning gas, but there is an effective dark side, as in, the side of the sun we can’t see at any given time.

Scientists aren’t content to get just half of the picture, so they’ve launched the STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories) mission, a pair of NASA spacecraft that will orbit the sun simultaneously to provide a complete view of all sides of the star at once.

"Then there will be no place to hide and we can see the entire sun for the first time," STEREO project scientist Michael Kaiser of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center told Wired.com.

The perfect spherical view will come on Feb. 6, 2011. Right now the satellites, which were launched in October 2006, are about 90 degrees apart, which allows a picture of about 270 degrees of the sun — the fullest view yet.

"The who goal of all of this is to try to get a better handle to try to predict solar storms, which cause cell phone disturbances, and disruptions to communications and power." Kaiser said. "We’d like to be able to predict these things as far in advance as possible to give us a longer warning time."

Solar storms are magnetic disruptions on the sun that release violent sprays of charged particles into space. These storms can produce magnificent displays of the Northern Lights. But some past storms have also cost airlines and satellite communications industries millions of dollars, and have led to large scale power blackouts (including one across the entire province of Quebec, Canada). Being able to reliably forecast these tempests in advance could make a huge difference in preventing disturbances on Earth.

Predicting solar weather is also important for the future of manned spaceflight. If astronauts are exposed to the intense radiation from solar storms while traveling beyond the protective magnetic field of the Earth, they could suffer serious harm. Even astronauts close to home who venture out for a spacewalk during a storm are put in danger.

"For future missions going to the moon and Mars, that’s very important," Kaiser said. "Some of these solar storms can be very intense. If the astronauts were completely exposed to one of these storms the radiation could be high."

The STEREO mission also aims to improve our basic scientific understanding of the dynamics within the sun, which could shed light on the workings of stars in general.
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27 comments // First view of the dark side of the Sun

  • courage
    • 0
      courage  

    • Nasa takes one cent of every tax dollar spent.
      If humanity stops reaching for the stars we are doomed as a species.Every thing we need is out there
      Solar Weather is the cause of global warming or cooling.

    • 2 years ago
  • Mike_Johnston
  • Ish05
    • 0
      Ish05  
    • Mike_Johnston:

      Mike Johnson. That is funny you should say such a thing. I always think of the possibility of another planet sharing our orbit, on the other side of the sun where we can never see it. It would be the greatest discovery man has ever made.

    • 2 years ago
  • JcX
    • 0
      JcX  

    • i think dark side was just a simple ploy to get you to read this very interesting story without dismissing it and it seem like it's worked!! wonder why we never hear of satellites travelling to the bottom or very top of the sun hmmmmm i thought space was limitless? kinda makes me think it maybe a truman show studio! lool yes i laughed at myself

    • 2 years ago
  • DarkVeneficusss
    • 0
      DarkVeneficusss  
    • JcX:

      *email's NASA to also test for possible links between solar storms and the increasement of crazy people*

      - just thinking could explain the "full-moon" theory thats all...

      :D

    • 2 years ago
  • rebecca22
    • 0
      rebecca22  

    • Interesting.......it wil be very useful for solar weather. Surely it is the side we cannot see at the minute?? not the dark side????

    • 2 years ago
  • keithponder
  • bailey78
  • wayseeker
  • royulery
    • 0
      royulery  

    • the sun is such an overwhelming presents containing 99.85 of all the mass of the solar system. it converts 5,000,000 tons of matter into energy every second. it makes the thought of using any other power source, well, silly.
      we earthlings get more than enough sunlight through our thick atmosphere to power all our needs.sunlight is a minor energy source compared to the high energy plasma that doesn't reach us. our atmosphere is kept from blowing off by our magnetic field which captures the solar wind. giant blebs of high energy plasma gather on earth's shady side, where the magnetic field is distorted out by solar wind pressure, and boosts the speed from 200 miles per second to over 600, discharging more energy every day, than we earthlings have ever used.
      this new 360' view may give us more advanced warnings of coronal mass ejections, those powerful enough to get through our magnetic field and burn our technology. the solar wind takes almost 4 days to reach us on average but it can move a lot quicker. this sounds slow but remember plasma is matter

    • 2 years ago
  • Wesnology61
    • 0
      Wesnology61  

    • I agree with EliteKane. And if we rotate around the sun can't we just take a picture each day of the year to see the "backside" And I don't know i'm not an astronomer, but does the rotate on its own axis or do we no know.

      Maybe the system will be useful to give us a warning if a super strong solar flare is coming, assuming we could do anything to stop the disruptions here on earth. Or I bet thats where the solar goblins are hiding behind the sun and we can use the pics to plan out attack and stop them from stealing the back side of "OUR" sun.
      Earth, F$%k Yeah!

    • 2 years ago
  • EliteKane
    • 0
      EliteKane  

    • Really wtf is this shit all about, who gives a damn about the backside of the sun, is that gonna cure cancer and aids? or benefit us in any way? if not i don't wanna spend any money on it and i don't wanna hear about it. Its ridiculous, leave pointless shit alone.

    • 2 years ago
  • Ish05
    • 0
      Ish05  
    • EliteKane:

      Well Elitekane, you should go back into your cave. This doesn't concern animals. All you have to worry about is seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. You can go troll somewhere else. This mission concerns us humans. This is about increasing man's knowledge of the universe.

    • 2 years ago
  • airinmagoc
    • 0
      airinmagoc  

    • i think that these advances in technology are incredible..its what everyone thought the future would be like and its all slowly coming together

      i wonder how much they're spending too though
      all for the glorious wonders of science i suppose

    • 2 years ago
  • michail77
  • wayseeker
    • 0
      wayseeker  

    • I think probably the "dark side of the sun" is just like the light side of the sun and we are going to spend millions of dollars to make sure.

    • 2 years ago
  • Hunnter
    • 0
      Hunnter  

    • This is one of the projects i have been watching fairly closely, it should allow for much better weather reports of the Sun, which will be very important in the near future.

      Next thing should be a satellite above and below the sun (or just one) so we can have direct communication on all sides, and a more global view of the solar system for detecting space debris.
      While we could position the satellites so we can see both, it still won't solve the problem of communication from things not aligned to see both.
      Really it is just for having a global point everything can reference, regardless of position.

      Next up, 360 satellites on the outsides of the solar system so we can create a GPS network. (or at the least, enough for 3 reference points no matter where you are)
      But this isn't exactly something we will need for a good few centuries. (at our current rate)

    • 2 years ago
  • uberdeft
    • 0
      uberdeft  

    • Dark side of the sun is misleading, please don't talk like my grandfathers' grandfather anymore. Think bigger and say things in ways which make peoples' minds expand. You should get the people together who think there's a bionic goose out there and go bowling...

    • 2 years ago
  • JamesAJanisse
  • Hunnter
    • 0
      Hunnter  
    • JamesAJanisse:

      Yep, they will be far enough apart to be able to see all the way to the top and bottom.

      Because of their orbit though, one will go behind sometime around 2015, which is why another at the north or south would really be helpful for 100% connection.

      And i am glad they never done this because it leaves open the opportunity to launch a really advanced satellite to the North as a central hub for communications. (and south at a future time if we might need it)

    • 2 years ago
  • Jerrigity
    • 0
      Jerrigity  

    • Between this, the super-collider and the possibility of Aliens showing new signs of life in the next two years, I think some religions might be screwed..

    • 2 years ago
  • kewal91
  • chivideoguy
  • asherp
  • neonbunny
  • BoshStudios
  • michail77
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