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 2018-07-17 (Week 29)

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

* The SWAVES team has pointed out that the most recent .fin telemetry files,
  starting with day 102 (Apr 12), have been produced as version 00 instead of
  incrementing from the latest .ptp file.  For example, the .fin file for day
  102 has the name swaves_ahead_2018_102_1_00.fin when it should be
  swaves_ahead_2018_102_1_05.fin, as the last .ptp file was version 04.  This
  has been causing problems with the SWAVES processing such that the .fin files
  are being ignored, since their version numbers are lower than the .ptp
  files.  The MOC traced this to a problem they had with the disk filling back
  in April, leading to a change in the cleanup procedures.  They have now
  switched their scripts back to keeping the last 45 days, so that the problem
  should not appear in the future.  The SSC offered to rename the files on the
  SSC website to what they should have been, but it's not clear whether the
  instrument teams want this or not.


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 28 (Jul 9-15)

* On day 192 (Jul 11) fine pointing on Ahead was lost intermittently beginning
  at 0204z through 194-1304z.  These occurrences were due to the reaction
  wheels operating at low speeds and no gyro operations during this time
  period.  These transients can occur with no gyro operations and are not
  indicative of any problem with the spacecraft G&C.  It is believed that the
  main cause is Wheel 2.  After transiting through zero, it hung at minimum
  speed for about two days.  At that low speed, the lubricants may not be
  getting distributed evenly enough.  Once Wheel 2 progressed to higher rates,
  the pointing settled down.

* The average daily science data return for Ahead was 6.2 Gbits during this
  week.

* On day 190 (Jul 9), during a 3 hour 1 kHz battery recovery support for Behind
  with DSS-14, 225 commands were transmitted for battery state of charge
  recovery.  Due to the duration of the support, only 25 of the 36 frequency
  segments were commanded.

* On day 191 (Jul 10), during a 3.5 hour 1 kHz carrier recovery support for
  Behind with DSS-43, 380 commands were sent for transmitter carrier recovery.
  No carrier was detected by the station.  Due to the duration of the support
  and the increased commands for each step, only 19 of the 36 frequency
  segments were commanded.  Three commands must be received sequentially to
  power on the transmitter.

* On day 192 (Jul 11), during a 4 hour 1 kHz carrier recovery support for
  Behind with DSS-43, 440 commands were sent for transmitter carrier recovery.
  No carrier was detected by the DSN station.  Due to the duration of the
  support and the increased commands for each step, only 22 of the 36 frequency
  segments were commanded.  Three commands must be received sequentially to
  power on the transmitter.

Week 29 (Jul 16-22)

* Ahead has 16 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There
  are four tracks at 720 kbps, three at 360 kbps, and nine at 240 kbps.

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

* Maintenance of the power systems in the building housing the STEREO Science
  Center is scheduled for Jul 19, between 20-22 UT.  Actual interruption of
  power is expected to last 5 minutes, and it is believed that critical systems
  can be kept online during that period.  However, it is possible that all
  systems will need to be powered down if the maintenance takes longer than
  expected.

Week 30 (Jul 23-29)

* The 111th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Tuesday, Jul 24, with
  ignition at 20:30 UT.  This will be the 30th dump without using the gyros.

* Ahead has 12 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There
  are three tracks at 720 kbps, six at 360 kbps, and three at 240 kbps.

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

Week 31 (Jul 30-Aug 5)

* Ahead has 12 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal. There
  are six tracks at 720 kbps, three at 360 kbps, and three at 240 kbps.

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

Week 32 (Aug 6-12)

* Ahead has nine tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.
  There are three tracks at 720 kbps, three at 360 kbps, two at 240 kbps, and
  one at 160 kbps.

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

Week 33 (Aug 13-19)

* The 44th SECCHI stepped calibration roll is scheduled for Tuesday August 14th
  at 05:55 UT and taking 4.5 hours. This will be the midpoint roll. System
  momentum will be 1 N-m-s.

* A project interface test with station 26 is scheduled for Sunday, Aug 19,
  starting at 22:55 UT.  There will be no SSR commanding or instrument
  commanding during this pass.

* Ahead has ten tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are five tracks at 720 kbps, two at 360 kbps, two at 240 kbps, and one at 160
  kbps.

* Recovery tracks for Behind using the double diamond search pattern are
  scheduled for Monday, Aug 13 (battery), Tuesday, Aug 14 and Wednesday, Aug 15
  (both carrier).

Week 34 (Aug 20-26)

* Ahead has 14 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are six tracks at 720 kbps, three at 360 kbps, four at 240 kbps, and one at
  160 kbps.

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

Week 35 (Aug 27-Sep 2)

* Ahead has 11 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is currently short
  4.7 hours between Monday to Tuesday.  There are five tracks at 720 kbps, one
  at 360 kbps, two at 240 kbps, and three at 160 kbps.

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


COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 29:

M Jul 16 (197)  
T Jul 17 (198)  
W Jul 18 (199)  
T Jul 19 (200)  
F Jul 20 (201)  
S Jul 21 (202)  
S Jul 22 (203)  

Notes:

* Power system maintenance work at SSC site, Jul 19, 20-22 UT.  The SSC is
  expected to remain up on UPS.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 30:

M Jul 23 (204)  
T Jul 24 (205)  Ahead: Momentum dump, 20:30 UT
W Jul 25 (206)  
T Jul 26 (207)  
F Jul 27 (208)  
S Jul 28 (209)  
S Jul 29 (210)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 31:

M Jul 30 (211)  
T Jul 31 (212)  
W Aug 01 (213)  
T Aug 02 (214)  
F Aug 03 (215)  
S Aug 04 (216)  
S Aug 05 (217)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 32:

M Aug 06 (218)  
T Aug 07 (219)  
W Aug 08 (220)  
T Aug 09 (221)  
F Aug 10 (222)  
S Aug 11 (223)  
S Aug 12 (224)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 33:

M Aug 13 (225)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (search, battery)
T Aug 14 (226)  Ahead:	SECCHI stepped calibration roll, 5:55 UT
		Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (search, carrier)
W Aug 15 (227)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (search, carrier)
T Aug 16 (228)  
F Aug 17 (229)  
S Aug 18 (230)  
S Aug 19 (231)  Ahead:	Project interface test with station 26.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 34:

M Aug 20 (232)  
T Aug 21 (233)  
W Aug 22 (234)  
T Aug 23 (235)  
F Aug 24 (236)  
S Aug 25 (237)  
S Aug 26 (238)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 35:

M Aug 27 (239)  
T Aug 28 (240)  
W Aug 29 (241)  
T Aug 30 (242)  
F Aug 31 (243)  
S Sep 01 (244)  
S Sep 02 (245)  

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


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.