Explanation:
Neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night can
keep the space-based SOlar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)
from watching the Sun.
In fact, from its vantage point 1.5 million kilometers
sunward of planet Earth, SOHO's cameras can always
monitor
the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona.
But only during a total solar
eclipse
can earth-based observers
see the lovely coronal
streamers and structures - when
the Moon briefly blocks the overwhelmingly
bright solar surface.
In this composite view, SOHO's
uninterrupted view of the
solar corona above the solar photosphere (center) and
corona far beyond the Sun's disk, are shown in orange hues.
The middle, donut-shaped region is
the corona
as recorded by the Williams College Eclipse Expedition to
Kastelorizo Island, Greece during the
March 29th total solar eclipse.
Merging ground and
space-based views
allows astronomers to trace features in the corona
that reach from just above the Sun's surface into
the solar wind.
