NASA: checking out the sun in Stereo

[Rick]

Next month, NASA is to launch a new solar observatory that will make it possible for scientists to observe the sun in three dimensions for the first time. This should lead to better forecasting of space weather and a clearer understanding of the processes at work in our local star.

The Stereo mission (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) is composed of two near-identical space craft with a battery of detectors on each. They will record data in Ultra Violet, and will also use a coronagraph, which creates an artificial eclipse, to study the outer atmosphere of the sun.

They will both be launched into solar orbits, but set in different directions so they gradually drift further and further apart, sending back data on solar activity from two angles at once.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/07/17/solar_obs/