PICK OF THE WEEK
Pick of The Week
Space Weather (April 10, 2003)
High-resolution Images:
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The Sun is a dynamic star with a powerful and changing magnetic field
that often blasts electrified gas out into space (see left image,
from SOHO, a composite of images from two instruments). We call these
storms the driving force of "space weather". Some of this material
collides with the Earth (center image in UV light from the Polar
mission) causing the colorful aurora (final image from ground by Jan
Curtis, in Alaska) and other effects that, for most of human history,
could only be guessed at. The aurora are seen most often in the far
northern and southern latitudes. This collage of images captures the
three major visual elements of space weather. The link to the poster-sized TIF is a 32-inch wide poster version at 300 dpi. Museums and anyone else are more than welcome to download and print it out for display.
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. |
