NIST assists in solar stake-out to improve space weather forecasts

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With the aim of improving forecasts of space weather NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory will peer deep inside the sun to where the solar magnetic field is generated. It also will keep tabs on how energy is released into the solar atmosphere and how the ...
With the aim of improving forecasts of space weather, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory will peer deep inside the sun, to where the solar magnetic field is generated. It also will keep tabs on how energy is released into the solar atmosphere and how the sun's output of extreme ultraviolet radiation varies. Credit: NASA, courtesy Ryan Zuber

The sun is about to undergo unremitting scrutiny. About six times each minute of every hour for at least five years, a soon-to-be launched NASA satellite will measure the sun's quirky—and sometimes stormy—output of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light. To ensure that this solar stake-out yields data useful for understanding the weather in space and its earthly consequences, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology are helping a NASA team prepare for annual rocket-borne check-ups of key instruments aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).


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