Latest images from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO - EUVI/COR1/COR2/HI1/HI2)

Downlink from STEREO Behind has been detected during the recovery track on August 21st 2016. More info | All news.

Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (or STEREO) employs two nearly identical space-based observatories. One ahead of Earth in its orbit (STEREO A), the other trailing behind (STEREO B) to provide stereoscopic measurements to study the Sun and the nature of its CMEs. Check the current STEREO positions and ground station coverage.

Beacon images

These are the latest received images from both spacecraft. They are generally of lower quality and resolution. Some factors such as Deep Space Network schedule conflicts may result in delaying the beacon images. Check below for the latest high-resolution images (these are normally delayed by up to 72 hours).

Note: Both HI1 and HI2 images are processed using two different methods. You can swap the different versions by clicking on the full-size image in the popup window.

STEREO A (Earth is to the right (post solar conjunction) in EUVI, COR1 and COR2)

EUVI 195Å COR1 COR2 HI1 STARS/HI1 CME HI2 STARS/HI2 CME

STEREO B (Earth is to the right in EUVI, COR1 and COR2)
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Latest high-resolution images

STEREO A STEREO B (no contact)

EUVI 171Å EUVI 195Å EUVI 284Å EUVI 304Å EUVI 171Å EUVI 195Å EUVI 284Å EUVI 304Å

COR1 COR1 rdiff COR2 COR2 rdiff COR1 COR1 rdiff COR2 COR2 rdiff

Stereo Behind COR1 RDIFF high resolution

Stereo Behind COR2 RDIFF high resolution

HI1 HI1 rdiff HI1 STARS HI2 STARS HI1 HI1 rdiff HI1 STARS HI2 STARS

note: The "rdiff" COR and HI images use different type of postprocessing called "running difference". It detects the difference between the current and the previous available frame, thus providing a highlight on the subtle details in the images.

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7-day composite videos (updated daily)
NOTE: Contact with STEREO-B has been lost. As a result the videos may not be updated regularly due to insufficient data.

COR1

COR2

HI1

HI2

EUVI-171

EUVI-195

EUVI-284

EUVI-304

COR1, COR2, HI1, HI2

EUVI-171, EUVI-195, EUVI-284, EUVI-304

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Visible planets

STEREO A (Earth is to the right (post solar conjunction))

Visible planets on Stereo Ahead Coronagraph 1

Visible planets on Stereo Ahead Coronagraph 2

Visible planets on Stereo Ahead Heliospheric Imager 1

Visible planets on Stereo Behind Coronagraph 1

Visible planets on Stereo Behind Coronagraph 2

Visible planets on Stereo Behind Heliospheric Imager 1

STEREO B (Earth is to the right)
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IMPACT/PLASTIC solar wind data

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Status and upcoming events:

STEREO A/B weekly status report from the Mission Operations Center: DOWNLOAD (pdf)

         STEREO Weekly Meeting Minutes for 2018-05-15 (Week 20)

ANNOUNCEMENTS
-------------

* None


INSTRUMENT and SPACECRAFT STATUS
--------------------------------

* Ahead is operating nominally on the main lobe of the high gain antenna.

* Behind has transitioned to a monthly schedule to attempt to recover the
  spacecraft.


DISCUSSION AND OPERATIONS CONSTRAINTS
-------------------------------------

Week 19 (May 7-13)

* On day 127 (May 7), during the DSS-55 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock
  was lost briefly at 1118z.  This anomaly resulted in the loss of one frame of
  SSR data.

* On day 128 (May 8), during the DSS-65 support for Ahead, telemetry lock was
  lost intermittently at 1701z through 1707z due to rain at the Madrid complex.
  The SSR pointers were repositioned to minimize data loss.  This anomaly
  resulted in the loss of 6623 frames of real-time telemetry and SSR data,
  which is equivalent to about 4 minutes at the 240 kbps rate.  See DR# M110583
  for more information.

* On day 130 (May 10), during the DSS-14 support for Ahead, acquisition of
  signal was 4.1 hours late due to a mechanical issue with antenna pointing.
  Telemetry was received at 131-0304z for the last 20 minutes of the support
  which was insufficient time to sweep the uplink and move SSR pointers back.
  See DR #G119113 for more information.  This anomaly resulted in the loss of
  4.1 hours of tracking, and real-time telemetry and 4.4 hours of commanding.
  On the subsequent support, all instrument SSR science pointers were
  repositioned to minimize data loss.  The following is a summary of SSR data
  loss:

	- IMPACT starting at 131-1814z (May 11) for 48 minutes.

	- PLASTIC starting at 131-1815z (May 11) for 48 minutes, 131-1910z for
          3 minutes, and 131-2259z for 79 minutes.

	- SECCHI starting at 130-0054z (May 10) for 12 hours, 131-2305z
          (May 11) for 19 minutes, and 132-0004z (May 12) for 2 minutes.

	- SWAVES starting at 131-1639z (May 11) for 2.3 minutes.

	- Spacecraft housekeeping starting at 130-0055z (May 10) for 25.9
          hours, including all attitude information.

* On day 133 (May 13), during the DSS-14 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock
  was lost briefly at 0158z.  This anomaly resulted in the loss of 8 frames of
  SSR data.

* On day 133 (May 13), during the DSS-55 support, turbo decoder lock was lost
  briefly at 1042z.  This anomaly resulted in the loss of 50 frames of SSR
  data.

* On day 127 (May 7), the 7th battery conditioning event was successfully
  conducted at 1200z on the Ahead spacecraft to redistribute the electrolytes
  within the nickel hydrogen battery cells.  The test results were very
  consistent with the previous test in 2017.

* On day 128 (May 8), the 43rd SECCHI stepped calibration was executed at 1030z
  for aphelion in the Ahead orbit.  This was the 12th SECCHI stepped
  calibration roll to be conducted without gyro use.

* On day 131 (May 11), the IMPACT SSR science partition (#15) on Ahead reached
  95% full and began recording only housekeeping data due to the DSS-14 anomaly
  on day 130 at the following times:

	- 131-1817z for 1.0 hours
	- 131-1920z for 0.1 hours

* On day 131 (May 11), the PLASTIC SSR science partition (#17) on Ahead reached
  95% full and began recording only housekeeping data due to the DSS-14 anomaly
  on day 130 at the following times:

	- 131-1818z for 0.9 hours
	- 131-1918z for 0.1 hours
	- 131-2236z for 1.7 hours

* On day 131 (May 11), the SECCHI SSR science partition (#19) on Ahead reached
  100% full at 2251z for 1.5 hours due to the DSS-14 anomaly on day 130.

* The average daily science data return for Ahead was 5.8 Gbits during this
  week.

Week 20 (May 14-20)

* The 109th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Tuesday, May 15, starting
  at 20:00 UT.  This will be the 28th momentum dump without using the gyros.

* Ahead has 13 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are eight passes at 720 kbps, four at 240 kbps, and one at 160 kbps.

* 1 kHz frequency acquisition recovery tracks for Behind are scheduled for
  Friday, May 18 (battery), and on Saturday, May 19, and Sunday, May 20
  (both carrier).

Week 21 (May 21-27)

* Ahead reaches aphelion on Thursday, May 24.

* The STEREO MOC will be on generator power between Saturday, 10:00 UT, and
  Sunday, 22:00 UT, May 26-27, for scheduled maintenance.  This coincides with
  Memorial Day weekend.

* Ahead has 12 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are nine passes at 720 kbps, two at 360 kbps, and one at 240 kbps.

* There are no recovery passes for Behind scheduled during the week.

Week 22 (May 28-Jun 3)

* Monday, May 28, is Memorial Day, which is an APL holiday.

* Ahead has 13 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are six passes at 720 kbps, four at 360 kbps, one at 240 kbps, and two at
  160 kbps.

* There are no recovery passes for Behind scheduled during the week.

Week 23 (Jun 4-10)

* Ahead has 12 passes during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are six passes at 720 kbps, four at 360 kbps, one at 240 kbps, and one at 160
  kbps.

* There are no recovery passes for Behind scheduled during the week.

Week 24 (Jun 11-17)

* The JPL network will be down for maintenance on Tuesday, Jun 12, between
  11:00-15:00 UTC.  There are no tracks during this period.

* Sunday, Jun 17, marks the date when the Behind spacecraft should resume the
  capability of 633 bps on the LGA when 3-axis stabilized, with a 2 dB margin.

* Ahead has nine tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.
  There are four tracks at 720 kbps, three at 360 kbps, and two at 240 kbps.

* Search pattern tracks to attempt to recover Behind are scheduled for Tuesday,
  Jun 12 (battery), and on Thursday, Jun 14, and Friday, Jun 15 (both carrier).

Week 25 (Jun 18-24)

* The 110th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Thursday, Jun 21, with
  ignition at 20:00 UT.  This will be the 29th dump without using the gyros.

* Ahead has 11 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are six tracks at 720 kbps, three at 360 kbps, and two at 240 kbps.

* There are no recovery passes for Behind during the week.

Week 26 (Jun 25-Jul 1)

* Ahead has ten tracks during the week, and overall coverage is currently short
  about 4 hours of 70 meter time between Monday and Tuesday.  There are six
  tracks at 720 kbps, and four at 240 kbps.

* There are no recovery passes for Behind during the week.


COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 20:

M May 14 (134)  
T May 15 (135)  Ahead:	Momentum dump, 20 UT
W May 16 (136)  
T May 17 (137)  
F May 18 (138)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (1 kHz, battery)
S May 19 (139)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (1 kHz, carrier)
S May 20 (140)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (1 kHz, carrier)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 21:

M May 21 (141)  
T May 22 (142)  
W May 23 (143)  
T May 24 (144)  Ahead:	Aphelion
F May 25 (145)  
S May 26 (146)  
S May 27 (147)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 22:

M May 28 (148)  Memorial Day
T May 29 (149)  
W May 30 (150)  
T May 31 (151)  
F Jun 01 (152)  
S Jun 02 (153)  
S Jun 03 (154)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 23:

M Jun 04 (155)  
T Jun 05 (156)  
W Jun 06 (157)  
T Jun 07 (158)  
F Jun 08 (159)  
S Jun 09 (160)  
S Jun 10 (161)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 24:

M Jun 11 (162)  
T Jun 12 (163)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (search, battery)
W Jun 13 (164)  
T Jun 14 (165)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (search, carrier)
F Jun 15 (166)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (search, carrier)
S Jun 16 (167)  
S Jun 17 (168)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 25:

M Jun 18 (169)  
T Jun 19 (170)  
W Jun 20 (171)  
T Jun 21 (172)  Ahead:	Momentum dump, 20:00 UT
F Jun 22 (173)  
S Jun 23 (174)  
S Jun 24 (175)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 26:

M Jun 25 (176)  
T Jun 26 (177)  
W Jun 27 (178)  
T Jun 28 (179)  
F Jun 29 (180)  
S Jun 30 (181)  
S Jul 01 (182)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Upcoming events:

Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft.

2019:

* Mar			Ahead:	Switch downlink rate to 240 kbps for 34 meter
* Apr			Behind:	Switch downlink rate to 240 kbps for 34 meter

2020:

* May			Behind:	Switch downlink rate to 360 kbps for 34 meter
* Jun			Ahead:	Switch downlink rate to 360 kbps for 34 meter
* Jun			Behind: Switch downlink rate to 480 kbps for 34 meter
* Sep			Ahead:	Switch downlink rate to 480 kbps for 34 meter

2021:

* Jul			Behind:	Switch downlink rate to 720 kbps for 34 meter
* Aug			Ahead:	Switch downlink rate to 720 kbps for 34 meter

2022:

2023:

* May 5			Behind:	Mercury transit
* Jul 17		Behind:	Closest approach to Earth
* Aug 13		Ahead:	Closest approach to Earth

2024:

2025:

* Apr 7			Ahead:	Mercury transit

2026:

2027:

* Feb 1			Behind: Mercury transit

2028:

2029:

* Jun 30		Ahead:	Mercury transit

Courtesy of STEREO/SECCHI consortium.