Commemorating EIT (August 6, 2010)

Hi-res TIF image (2.5M)

We wish to mark the end of an era. As of August 1, 2010, SOHO’s Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) had completed fourteen and a half years of synoptic observations of the Sun’s low corona. SDO AIA images (http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/) at much higher resolution and time cadence are now available for all the EIT wavebands, as well as four additional extreme ultraviolet wavelengths. The communications bandwidth that has been used by EIT will be used by the LASCO instrument to improve the cadence of its observations of the fastest CME's. EIT will continue to obtain a couple of "synoptic sets" of images in all four wavelengths per day to track detector behavior and to maintain the uniform data set. EIT was the first multilayer, EUV solar telescope to observe the Sun for more than a few minutes. Its unique vantage point near the Lagrange L1 point enabled EIT to make long, continuous observations of the lower solar corona and led to the discovery of coronal waves in conjunction with coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Images from this instrument have appeared in books, magazines, planetarium shows, TV productions, museums, and numerous other venues around the world. This remarkable record of observations has made significant scientific contributions to our understanding of the Sun.

SOHO began its Weekly Pick some time after sending a weekly image or video clip to the American Museum of Natural History (Rose Center) in New York City. There, the SOHO Weekly Pick is displayed with some annotations on a large plasma display.

If your institution would also like to receive the same Weekly Pick from us for display (usually in Photoshop or QuickTime format), please send your inquiry to steele.hill@gsfc.nasa.gov.