Explanation:
On December 22nd, at 0022
Universal Time
the Sun reached its southernmost point in Earth's sky
marking
the final season change for the year 2006.
In celebration of the
Solstice,
consider these images
of the Sun from an extreme ultraviolet telescope onboard
the Stereo Ahead spacecraft.
Recorded on December 4th, Stereo's first day of imaging,
each false-color view
highlights
atomic emission in
different temperature regimes of the upper
solar
atmosphere; 2 million
kelvins in yellow,
1.5 million in green, 1 million, in blue and 60 to 80 thousand
in red.
The Stereo Mission will
place twin spacecraft, launched
together in October, into different solar orbits to conduct
a three dimensional exploration
of the Sun and the solar environment.
After completing
lunar swingby
maneuvers,
the A spacecraft is intended to orbit the Sun
"Ahead" of planet Earth, and the B spacecraft "Behind".
