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<H1 sizset="104" sizcache="6"><A
href="http://gizmodo.com/5753229/for-the-first-time-in-human-history-we-have-a-view-of-the-entire-sun"><FONT
color=#000000 size=5>For the First Time In Human History We Have a View of the
Entire Sun</FONT></A></H1>
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<DIV class=post-meta>February 6, 2011; STEREO reveals a view of the entire
sun. Before, we were only able to see one side of the sun at a time, and we were
unable to tell what was forming on the far end.</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<P sizset="105" sizcache="6"><FONT size=5><IMG class="left image500"
alt="For the First Time In Human History We Have a View of the Entire Sun"
src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2011/02/stereolovernasa.jpg"
width=500></FONT></P>
<P sizset="105" sizcache="6"><FONT face=Verdana>Until today, NASA was only able
to directly view the Earth-facing side of </FONT><A class=autolink
title="Click here to read more posts tagged #thesun"
href="http://gizmodo.com/tag/thesun/"><FONT face=Verdana color=#303030>the
Sun</FONT></A><FONT face=Verdana>. We could see </FONT><A class=autolink
title="Click here to read more posts tagged #solarstorms"
href="http://gizmodo.com/tag/solarstorms/"><FONT face=Verdana
color=#303030>solar storms</FONT></A><FONT face=Verdana> as they happened, but
not necessarily as they developed. Now, thanks to STEREO, we can see all sides
simultaneously.</FONT></P>
<P sizset="107" sizcache="6"><FONT face=Verdana>Our limited view was due to the
fact that the Sun's roughly 27-day rotation hid the far side from our current
crop of observational instruments, like the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO.
The SDO and its companion the </FONT><A href="http://soi.stanford.edu/"><FONT
face=Verdana color=#dc870e>Michelson Doppler Imager</FONT></A><FONT
face=Verdana>, while invaluable, can only produce a reconstruction of the
activity on the far side of the Sun.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>In a technologically-dependent world such as ours, this
limited view was dangerous. Solar storms and coronal mass ejections, commonplace
in our solar system, could easily build on the unmonitored far side of the Sun
before launching toward Earth to knock out our satellites and on-world
electronics. We could be, and have been, caught unaware.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana>To better prepare for these storms, NASA launched STEREO
in 2006. Short for the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, this pair of
spacecraft follows Earth's orbit—one ahead and one behind—to offer unprecedented
views of our life-giving Sun.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Verdana> As of today, they've finally reached a point along
our orbit that gives a full 360-degree view of the Sun:
<STRONG>http://tinyurl.com/4qydygb</STRONG><BR></P></FONT>
<P sizset="108" sizcache="6">
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<FONT face=Verdana>The current mission will continue for another eight years
before STEREO A and B switch places on the far side of the Sun, and begin
again.</FONT></P>
<P sizset="108" sizcache="6"><FONT face=Verdana> [</FONT><A
href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=59678391"><FONT
face=Verdana color=#dc870e>NASA</FONT></A><FONT face=Verdana> - <EM>Thanks,
Alex</EM>]</FONT></P></BODY></HTML>