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Smithsonian scientists develop a window into the sun's corona
Smithsonian scientists have developed a new instrument that is helping us view the sun's corona. The corona, the faint glow around the sun, has been observed during total eclipses, but such glimpses are rare and last for only minutes.
The new device, called an Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, allows scientists to view the innermost corona 24 hours a day. The imaging equipment uses a computer program that processes the images by imitating the "blocking-out" affect that occurs during eclipses.
The device, according to one of its developers Steven Cranmer, provides "better-than-HD quality views" that "show magnetic structures and dynamics that we've never seen before on the sun."
The images of the corona have illustrated the connections between gas captured by the sun's magnetic field and gas escaping into space.
The following video provides a good introduction to what is known and unknown about the sun: