The twin STEREO spacecraft have different views of the Sun. By combining pictures from the two spacecraft, we can create 3D stereoscopic views of the Sun and CMEs.
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Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) Space Mission
Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) is a NASA
space mission to study the Sun and Coronal Mass Ejections (CME).
STEREO was launched in October 2006. The mission involves two identical spacecraft. After launch, the two spacecraft flew by the Moon on slightly different paths. The Moon's gravity redirected the spacecraft; one was flung forward along Earth's orbit around the Sun, while the other was steered backward along Earth's orbit.
The separated spacecraft have different views of the Sun. By combining simultaneous views from both spacecraft, scientists can create 3D stereoscopic images of the Sun and of the huge "solar storms" that sometimes blast outward from it.
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