Three Years Later (August 17, 2012)

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The fairly dramatic increase in solar activity from 2009 to the present is easy to see in a side-by-side comparison from then and now taken by SOHO's C3 instrument (Aug. 4-10, 2012). Back in 2009, the Sun was still close to solar minimum period, with very little solar activity. At solar minimum, the visible-light corona is confined nearly to a plane, but closer to solar maximum, features appear at all solar latitudes. Currently, there is usually some activity every day, as witnessed in this one-week video. The maximum of this cycle of solar activity is expected next year.

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.