NuSTAR Takes Beautiful X-ray Image of Sol

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

NuSTAR Takes Beautiful X-ray Image of Sol

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday December 23, 2014 @10:10PM from the welcome-to-my-desktop dept.

New submitter swell points out a new image release from NASA, the first taken of the Sun by its Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). It's the most sensitive shot ever taken in the high-energy X-ray range of the spectrum. Direct image link. While the sun is too bright for other telescopes such as NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, NuSTAR can safely look at it without the risk of damaging its detectors. The sun is not as bright in the higher-energy X-rays detected by NuSTAR, a factor that depends on the temperature of the sun's atmosphere. ... With NuSTAR's high-energy views, it has the potential to capture hypothesized nanoflares -- smaller versions of the sun's giant flares that erupt with charged particles and high-energy radiation. Nanoflares, should they exist, may explain why the sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona, is sizzling hot, a mystery called the "coronal heating problem." The corona is, on average, 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit (1 million degrees Celsius), while the surface of the sun is relatively cooler at 10,800 Fahrenheit (6,000 degrees Celsius). It is like a flame coming out of an ice cube. Nanoflares, in combination with flares, may be sources of the intense heat.

44 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Colorized by Turner? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-23 22:14 · Score: -1

Those things always are!
oh wow by ihtoit · 2014-12-23 22:22 · Score: 2

PIA18906 just became my new wallpaper. Forget the technical stuff, that is just beautiful.

--
Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
1. Re:oh wow by SpzToid · 2014-12-23 22:35 · Score: 2
  
  The really trippy thing is, comets pass through it successfully. (Don't try this at home folks)
  http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pa...
  
  --
  You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
2. Re:oh wow by DigiShaman · 2014-12-24 00:42 · Score: 1
  
  Well only because you mentioned it, the rainbow blotch in the middle is distracting. Would prefer just the red/black image by itself ;)
  
  --
  Life is not for the lazy.
How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-23 22:46 · Score: -1

"Sol".
This is the gheyest thing I have read all day. Then again, the day is still young.
1. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-23 22:57 · Score: 1
  
  "Sol" is simply Latin for "Sun". It is not some official sceintific designator for our star, despite what the ghey community thinks.
  I'm surprised Slashdot still referrs to the moon as "the moon", instead of the Latin, "Luna".
2. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-23 22:58 · Score: 0
  
  All that hydrogen fusion, Sol is flaming gay all day.
3. Re:How ghey by jez9999 · 2014-12-23 23:00 · Score: 1
  
  If we start doing major exploration of deep space we're gonna need to use less ambiguous names for the sun and moon, as other planets may have a sun and moon.
  
  --
  == Jez ==
  Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
4. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-23 23:14 · Score: 1
  
  We can go back to calling them Atum and Iah again.
5. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-23 23:30 · Score: 0
  
  Yes, in Latin, any sun would be called sol.
6. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-23 23:33 · Score: 0
  
  Yes and in Space Rome, any son would be called Son.
7. Re:How ghey by geekmux · 2014-12-23 23:35 · Score: 1
  
  "Sol" is simply Latin for "Sun". It is not some official sceintific designator for our star, despite what the ghey community thinks.
  I'm surprised Slashdot still referrs to the moon as "the moon", instead of the Latin, "Luna".
  Yeah, really.
  I mean, just how dumb would we have to be to start using Latin to designate official scientific designa...what's that? The medical community you say? And the entire animal kingdom? Botany too?
  Well, yeah, I do know where we got the word science from. Gee, it's like there's some kind of weird pattern here that some Homo sapien created a long time ago...
8. Re:How ghey by itzly · 2014-12-23 23:37 · Score: 1
  
  We already have names for other stars and planets, and it's not causing any confusion.
9. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 00:08 · Score: 0
  
  Just because everyone does it, doesn't mean it's not stupid.
10. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 00:13 · Score: 0
  
  I assume you mean any 'star', Sun is a noun, referring to the star that earth is in orbit of.
11. Re:How ghey by jellomizer · 2014-12-24 00:33 · Score: 1
  
  Most of the Latin terms are the scientific terminology for an object.
  They chose a language for scientific terminology so you don't get it confused across languages.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
12. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 00:34 · Score: 1
  
  t using Latin to designate official scientific designa...what's that?
  But being in Latin doesn't make it "official", even if a lot of official names are in Latin (or Greek, or German in physics). Notice the original NASA article doesn't use the name at all. Or more relevant, the name is rarely used in astronomy and astrophysics journals, especially ones that try to enforce any consistency in nomenclature. Sol and Luna usage comes from science fiction, not from regular use in science literature. Maybe some day that will change, but for now, astronomy uses whatever "the Sun" is translated into the local language, so "the Sun" for English. There is no ambiguity or vagueness issue like there are for some animal names.
13. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 00:37 · Score: 0
  
  So what. The GP is absolutely right. Using a Latin word when you have a perfectly suitable English language equivalent is about as ghey as it gets.
14. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 00:57 · Score: 0
  
  Holy Phallus!
15. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 01:03 · Score: 0
  
  There's such a thing as context. Someone can say "my house", as opposed to the full address, and you understand them just fine.
16. Re: How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 01:05 · Score: 0
  
  Kind of like your mom.
17. Re:How ghey by oodaloop · 2014-12-24 01:31 · Score: 1
  
  The point is that the sun and moon, especially the moon, are both their names and the generic name for its type (gp didn't say planet, btw). It's like Big Bird. It's fine as a name, when there's only one of him. When you go to his home town, and everyone is a big bird, you may want to find a better name. Yes, context will help. But if you're talking to a martian explorer, and he talks about sending something "to the moon", his context and your context are two different things and there is bound to be confusion.
  
  --
  Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
18. Re:How ghey by itzly · 2014-12-24 02:36 · Score: 2
  
  Not a big deal. When people say something that may be ambiguous, and the context doesn't resolve it, they'll just add more context. So, our martian explorer could say "Moon" when it's obvious what moon he's talking about, or switch to "Phobos" when there could be a chance of misinterpretation. People do this all the time.
19. Re:How ghey by geekmux · 2014-12-24 02:52 · Score: 1
  
  Just because everyone does it, doesn't mean it's not stupid.
  Probably the best argument for the metric system ever.
20. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 03:02 · Score: 0
  
  t using Latin to designate official scientific designa...what's that?
  But being in Latin doesn't make it "official", even if a lot of official names are in Latin (or Greek, or German in physics). Notice the original NASA article doesn't use the name at all. Or more relevant, the name is rarely used in astronomy and astrophysics journals, especially ones that try to enforce any consistency in nomenclature. Sol and Luna usage comes from science fiction, not from regular use in science literature. Maybe some day that will change, but for now, astronomy uses whatever "the Sun" is translated into the local language, so "the Sun" for English. There is no ambiguity or vagueness issue like there are for some animal names.
  Yeah, I'm sure we've never brought ambiguity into the mix by moving away from a root naming schema and allowing people to simply translate it into whatever their local language is.
  Works well every time I order ropa vieja. I mean, who doesn't enjoy a pile of old clothes served up hot over rice..
21. Re:How ghey by cyberchondriac · 2014-12-24 04:24 · Score: 2
  
  Sunne (or Sunna) was the OE/Germanic/Scandinavian name for the Sun (thus it's common name). Sol is the latin name for our Sun. That's why our star system is the "solar" system. It tweaks my OCD when people -especially scientists- refer to another star system as a "solar" system.
  Sol /= star, it means our particular star. Though I have a feeling continued usage of it in manner will ultimately change the definition.
  
  --
  
  Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
22. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 04:58 · Score: 0
  
  Yeah, I'm sure we've never brought ambiguity into the mix by moving away from a root naming schema and allowing people to simply translate it into whatever their local language is.
  Because some words are confusing or ambiguous when translated, we therefore can't allow any words to be translated? If that were the case, why allow any science communication to be in multiple languages?
  Just because there exist names and expressions that don't translate has no bearing on whether a particular item has trouble. In this case, the Sun and its name in other languages have worked quite well in science communication and literature, where translation of the name is used extensively (and much closer to an official name than the Latin name).
23. Re:How ghey by MillionthMonkey · 2014-12-24 04:58 · Score: 1
  
  If we start doing major exploration of deep space we're gonna need to use less ambiguous names for the sun and moon, as other planets may have a sun and moon.
  We will never do major exploration of deep space where we get closer to another star than to this one. If we do, humanity can define two constants in file headers.
24. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 05:05 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  That's why our star system is the "solar" system.
  Plenty of words drift or even start out meaning things much more general or abstract than their root components. Geyser used to refer to a very specific spring in Iceland, and now refers to any similar one regardless of location for example.
25. Re:How ghey by cyberchondriac · 2014-12-24 05:35 · Score: 1
  
  But I'm stuck during the transitional phase ;)
  
  --
  
  Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
26. Re:How ghey by CrankyFool · 2014-12-24 05:52 · Score: 1
  
  The animal kingdom does not use Latin. In fact, they're generally not very talkative at all, and their scientific exploration is TERRIBLE.
  F'ing apes.
27. Re:How ghey by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 09:05 · Score: 0
  
  Other planets most definitely do not have a sun. They have a star. A sun is not a type of astronomical body, it is the name of our star.
28. Re:How ghey by oodaloop · 2014-12-25 22:55 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, we do. And you know what else we do all the time? Come up with new words when we're tired of being pointlessly confused with ambiguous words. Otherwise, we'd spend all day saying pass me the thingy thing, you know the thing by other thing, no the other thing.
  
  --
  Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
doesn't seem all that high-res to me... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-23 23:31 · Score: 0

anyone care to speculate wildly why the blue-green x-ray channel is lower res than the imager at my doctor's office?
1. Re:doesn't seem all that high-res to me... by lisaparratt · 2014-12-24 00:12 · Score: 1
  
  Sol's a difficult patient, and refused to go to the appointment.
2. Re:doesn't seem all that high-res to me... by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-29 09:23 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe because you stood closer than 93 million miles away from your doctor's imager.
Too small! by lisaparratt · 2014-12-24 00:16 · Score: 1

Wot no 5120x2880 version?
1. Re:Too small! by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 01:08 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  NuSTAR has 4x imaging planes sensitive to the ~3keV to 78keV spectrum, each of those 4 sensors only has a resolution of 32x32 pixels (64x64 pixels combined).
  Feel lucky they bothered to spend the time they did scanning as much of the sun that they did, at the resolution they did.
2. Re:Too small! by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 02:25 · Score: 1
  
  Indeed--given that x-rays are not the easiest thing in the world to focus and image, that this exists at all is pretty amazing.
fp Fa(gorz by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 00:27 · Score: -1

you can. No, sUccesses with the parts. The current Battled in court, LIKE I SHOULD BE Lube. This can lead Talk to one of the move any equipment was at the same fanatic known numbers continue despite the BitTorrent) Second, for a moment and 7oo, can be a numbers continue OS don't fear the fastest-growing GAY FreeBSD at about 80 transfer, Netscape States that there please moderate market. Therefore that supports Windows, SUN or the deal with you there are only and piss cocktail. for it. I don't getting together to Which allows walk up to a play then Jordan Hubbard is busy infighting clearly. There FreeBSD because supplies to private
Not exactly "pass through it" by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 01:28 · Score: 1

The comet passed through the sun's atmosphere / corona, but not through the sun itself. Just in case anyone is led to believe that comets are starting to take on neutrino-like properties...
1. Re:Not exactly "pass through it" by ihtoit · 2014-12-24 06:33 · Score: 1
  
  strangely, I did post a submission on this very event, alas the phase of Kim Kardashian's arse took centre stage and pushed my submission out to the realms of "not important enough science to warrant even a sideline story on Slashdot".
  http://slashdot.org/submission...
  Fuck you, Slashdot.
  
  --
  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
"Thunderbolts of the Gods" on Youtube by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 02:13 · Score: 0

The universe is electric. The sun is hollow. It's amazing how well it is explained in this; many "rounding errors" are done away with.
Here you go by Anonymous Coward · 2014-12-24 05:13 · Score: 0

http://imgur.com/Eu9yB2i