The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) unveiled on Tuesday the first images from CCOR-1, the world's first operational space-based coronagraph, mounted aboard the GOES-19 satellite.
The powerful solar telescope began its mission to observe the sun's corona—its faint outer atmosphere—on September 19, 2024.
CCOR-1 represents a significant advancement in space weather monitoring, capturing new images of the solar corona every 15 minutes. The telescope employs an occulting disk, visible as a dark blue circle in the imagery, to eclipse the sun and reveal the typically obscured corona.
"The smoky cloud coming off the left hand side of the center in the image is a coronal mass ejection, or CME," James Spann, chief scientist at NOAA's Office of Space Weather Observations, told Newsweek. "That's basically an explosion on the surface of the sun that literally expels part of its atmosphere outwards."
Spann explained that CMEs are like plumes of electrified gas known as plasma, primarily composed of electrons and protons traveling at hundreds, possibly even thousands, of miles per second.
This particular CME wasn't coming toward Earth; if it were, it would be visible on both sides of the central disk that is blocking the sun.
Monitoring space weather is important because it has significant impacts for us on Earth. When solar storms do come our way, they cause dazzling aurora in the sky as they interact with the Earth's magnetic field.
"The aurora is kind of like the icing on the cake, the most visible manifestation of space weather," Spann said. "But there are other impacts that are not so obvious."
Satellites and communication networks can be interrupted when a CME heads our way and can even pose a risk to astronauts on space stations. Early warning of their arrivals is, therefore, imperative.
On the ground, geomagnetic storms caused by CMEs can induce currents on power lines and can burn out transformers, disrupt railways, as well as GPS and communication networks, Spann said.
By monitoring the sun every 15 minutes, CCOR-1 will enable scientists to better predict the impacts of CMEs and will mean they don't miss a beat when it comes to solar activity. Previous coronagraphs measuring solar storms could sometimes not report back to the NOAA for hours at a time.
CCOR-1 is just the beginning of the NOAA's expanded solar monitoring capabilities. The agency plans to deploy similar instruments both along the sun-Earth line and in orbit around the sun as part of its Space Weather Follow-On and Space Weather Next initiatives.
Currently, GOES-19 is undergoing post-launch testing and system checks. Once the satellite assumes its operational role as the NOAA's GOES East satellite in spring 2025, the Space Weather Prediction Center will integrate CCOR-1's observations into its forecasting systems.
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about space weather? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
