STEREO Solar Mission News

The latest news from the STEREO solar mission which consists of two space-based observatories – one ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind.

STEREO Science Stories

STEREO is now posting summaries of select papers written using STEREO data. These are written on a level for general scientists. Interested in how STEREO data is used? Take a look at: https://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/publications/nuggets.shtml

Side View of Solar Storms May 9-14, 2024

STEREO-A had a unique side view of last weekend's solar storms, observing multiple CME fronts as they headed towards Earth. STEREO-A also gave a heads up on the strength of the storms when they hit the spacecraft over two hours before they reached Earth.

STEREO-A One of Multiple Spacecraft Telling the Story of a Giant Solar Storm

April 17, 2021, was a day like any other day on the Sun, until a brilliant flash erupted and an enormous cloud of solar material billowed away from our star. Such outbursts from the Sun are not unusual, but this one was unusually widespread, hurling high-speed protons and electrons at velocities ...

New STEREO 3D movies

When the STEREO mission was first launched in 2006, with the Ahead and Behind spacecraft each put into their own orbits about the Sun, they soon reached a point where the views from the two spacecraft were ideally situated to make 3D stereoscopic images. As the spacecraft continued to separate, ...

STEREO sees Comet Nishimura

The recently discovered Comet Nishimura, which has been getting a lot of attention lately, is now visible in STEREO's inner Heliospheric Imager (HI-1) field-of-view. The comet first appeared in the STEREO images on September 17, just a few hours before it made its closest approach to the Sun. A...

Ham radio operator captures STEREO rotating

After 17 years, the STEREO Ahead spacecraft is passing close to Earth again, with closest approach on August 17. As it passes by, the spacecraft has to rotate to keep the high gain antenna pointed at Earth so that communications aren't interrupted. As described in this story on spaceweather.com,...

After Seventeen Years, A Spacecraft Makes Its First Visit Home

On Aug. 12, 2023, NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft will pass between the Sun and Earth, marking the first Earth flyby of the nearly 17-year-old mission. The visit home brings a special chance for the spacecraft to collaborate with NASA missions near Earth and reveal new insights into our closest star.

Halo CME captured by STEREO at high cadence

On July 24, 2023, the SECCHI COR2 telescope aboard the STEREO-A spacecraft observed a large coronal mass ejection that completely surrounded the Sun. Such events are know as "halo" CMEs. CMEs appear as haloes either when they are heading directly toward the observer or directly away; in this ca...

Amateur radio astronomers pick up signal from STEREO-A

After leaving Earth to fly around the Sun 17 years ago, the STEREO Ahead spacecraft has come back around and will fly by Earth this summer, with closest approach on August 17th. STEREO Ahead is so close to Earth now that some radio astronomers have been able to hear its radio signal, and even to ...

STEREO contributes to study of study of Betelgeuse eruption

The STEREO-A spacecraft played an important role in a recent study using data from the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories that showed that the star Betelgeuse ejected a substantial part of its visible surface in late 2019. Thanks to STEREO-A's unique position within the solar system,...