SUNSPOTTERS
From Satellites: SOHO LASCO
Live Data
A complete list of real-time data links is located in the Space Weather Resources section.
The easiest and quickest way to get the LASCO images for the current day is to go to the Sun-Earth Viewer. There is a link to the Viewer at the top of this page and there is a link at the top of every page in the Student Observation Network. When you open the Viewer and click on image #5, you will see the page similar to the one below.
LASCO (Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph) is able to take images of the solar corona by blocking the light coming directly from the Sun with an occulter disk (the dark circle in the center of the image), creating an artificial eclipse within the instrument itself. The position of the solar disk is indicated in the images by the white circle. The most prominent feature of the corona is usually the coronal streamers, those nearly radial bands that can be seen both in LASCO images (#5 and #6). Occasionally, a coronal mass ejection can be see being expelled away from the Sun and crossing the fields of view of both images. The shadow crossing from the lower left corner to the center of the image is the support for the occulter disk.
LASCO C2 images (red) show the inner solar corona up to 8.4 million kilometers (5.25 million miles) away from the Sun.
You can get the LASCO C3 (blue image) images by clicking on the #6 image in the Viewer. LASCO C3 images have a larger field of view. They encompass 32 diameters of the Sun. To put this in perspective, the diameter of the images is 45 million kilometers (about 30 million miles) at the distance of the Sun, or half of the diameter of the orbit of Mercury. Many bright stars can be seen behind the Sun.
You can use the controls under the large box on the right to zoom and pan. This feature allows you to see the corona in great detail. The scale under the box on the right compares the size of the Earth with the image. When you click on image #6, the LASCO C3 image will appear in the large box.
It is important to note the date and time for each image. Also, note that you can download full size images and save them + see instructions under control box.
- NASA Official: Dr. James Thieman
- Project Manager: Don Robinson-Boonstra
- Website Manager: Bryan Stephenson