LASCO Captures Piece Of Itself

SOLAR SCIENCE

LASCO C3 image with passing piece of MLI. Credit: ESA/SOHO.

Paris, France (SPX) Feb 11, 2005
Since the launch of SOHO in December 1995, images similar to this one have been observed about a dozen times. As in each previous case, it appears that some of SOHO's multi-layer thermal insulation (MLI), which has become brittle after over nine years' exposure to solar radiation, has flaked off and is passing in front of the wide-angle view of the coronagraph.

The streaking in this 19 second exposure is similar to what you would capture if you were to hold a camera lens open for several seconds and take a picture of snow falling. Just as the snowflakes that passed closest to the lens would appear as fat, out of focus streaks, this MLI flake also appears as a thick, bright streak.

What caused the MLI to flake off? Probably, a micrometeorite struck the brittle insulation, not an uncommon event for spacecraft. This type of image has sometimes been observed when a cover of one of the instruments has closed with some force and knocked off some of the spacecraft's insulation, but no covers were closing on this occasion.

SOLAR SCIENCE

UCR Scientist Chosen As Part Of NASA's Small Explorer Program

Riverside CA (SPX) Feb 07, 2005
Astrophysicist Gary Zank is part of a scientific team developing the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), a satellite that will make the first map of the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space, and which has been selected as part of NASA's Small Explorer program (SMEX).

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