NuSTAR Stares at the Sun

Nustar_nustar150708a_1024

nustar_nustar150708a July 8th, 2015

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Flaring, active regions of our sun are highlighted in this new image combining observations from several telescopes. High-energy X-rays from NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) are shown in blue; low-energy X-rays from Japan's Hinode spacecraft are green; and extreme ultraviolet light from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is yellow and red.

All three telescopes captured their solar images around the same time on April 29, 2015. The NuSTAR image is a mosaic made from combining smaller images.

The active regions across the suns surface contain material heated to several millions of degrees. The blue-white areas showing the NuSTAR data pinpoint the most energetic spots. During the observations, microflares went off, which are smaller versions of the larger flares that also erupt from the sun's surface. The microflares rapidly release energy and heat the material in the active regions.

NuSTAR typically stares deeper into the cosmos to observe X-rays from supernovas, black holes and other extreme objects. But it can also look safely at the sun and capture images of its high-energy X-rays with more sensitivity than before. Scientists plan to continue to study the sun with NuSTAR to learn more about microflares, as well as hypothesized nanoflares, which are even smaller.

In this image, the NuSTAR data shows X-rays with energies between 2 and 6 kiloelectron volts; the Hinode data, which is from the X-ray Telescope instrument, has energies of 0.2 to 2.4 kiloelectron volts; and the Solar Dynamics Observatory data, taken using the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument, shows extreme ultraviolet light with wavelengths of 171 and 193 Angstroms.

Note the green Hinode image frame edge does not extend as far as the SDO ultraviolet image, resulting in the green portion of the image being truncated on the right and left sides.

Provider: Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array

Image Source: https://nustar.caltech.edu/image/nustar150708a

Curator: NuSTAR: Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, Pasadena, CA

Image Use Policy: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/imagepolicy/

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Sun
Subject - Solar System
Star
Nustar_nustar150708a_128
 

Position Details

Position
RA = 0h 0m 0.0s
DEC = 0° 0’ 0.0”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
2802.2 x 2802.2 degrees
Constellation
Pisces

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Blue NuSTAR X-ray 413.3 pm
Green Hinode X-ray 1.2398 nm
Yellow SDO (AIA) Ultraviolet 19.3 nm
Red SDO (AIA) Ultraviolet 17.1 nm
NuSTAR band spans 2-6 keV, XRT spans 0.2 to 2.4 keV
Spectrum_xray1
Blue
Green
Yellow
Red
Nustar_nustar150708a_1280
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ID
nustar150708a
Subject Category
A.3  
Subject Name
Sun
Credits
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Release Date
2015-07-08
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://nustar.caltech.edu/image/nustar150708a
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
NuSTAR, Hinode, SDO, SDO
Instrument
-, -, AIA, AIA
Color Assignment
Blue, Green, Yellow, Red
Band
X-ray, X-ray, Ultraviolet, Ultraviolet
Bandpass
Central Wavelength
0.41328, 1.2398, 19.3, 17.1
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
N
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
0, 0
Reference Dimension
1140, 1140
Reference Pixel
570.5, 570.5
Scale
2.45810747147000, 2.45810747147000
Rotation
0
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
NuSTAR: Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array
URL
http://www.nustar.caltech.edu
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
City
Pasadena
State/Province
CA
Postal Code
Country
Rights
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/imagepolicy/
Publisher
Publisher ID
nustar
Resource ID
Metadata Date
2018-06-21T00:24:22Z
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

×

There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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