SOHO - Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is an European Space Agency/NASA mission launched in 1995. The objective of SOHO is to improve our understanding of the processes involved in heating the corona, creating coronal mass ejections and accelerating particles in the solar wind.
SOHO carries three sets of instruments designed to explore the solar interior using a method known as helioseismology which involves monitoring small vibrations of the Sun's surface by exploiting the Doppler Effect (a shift in wavelength of emitted light due to motion) or variations in intensity. The application of a consistent synoptic programme for SOHO has resulted in a dataset which is ideal for solar cycle and long-term variation studies.
Support for operation of SOHO is funded by the
UK Space Agency (UKSA), which is an executive agency of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). UKSA works with STFC which funds researchers to exploit the scientific data yielded by the mission.
2 images of SOHO - Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
Illustration of SOHO
Credit: Alex Lutkus, ESA
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Sun with erupting filament, taken by SOHO
Credit: ESA
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