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 2017-10-17 (Week 42)

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

* Power substation maintenance at the STEREO MOC is currently scheduled for
  Saturday, Oct 21, between 10-22 UT.  Portable generators are being brought
  in, so that mission operations should not be affected.


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

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

* Attempts to recover Behind have transitioned from a weekly schedule to a
  daily schedule.  Two days each week use the older 1 kHz frequency acquisition
  sequence, in case the nominal frequency has shifted, with one day devoted to
  battery recovery, and one day devoted to carrier recovery.  This typically is
  scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.  The remainder of the week uses the faster
  4 kHz frequency acquisition sequence.  Two of those days use a search pattern
  consisting of two diamonds, based on the estimated uncertainty in the
  ephemeris.  The double diamond pattern is executed twice, once to send
  commands, and then again 40 minutes later to listen for the carrier.  This
  search pattern will be run twice a week, once for battery recovery, and once
  for carrier recovery.


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

Week 41 (Oct 9-15)

* On day 282 (Oct 9), during the DSS-63 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock
  was lost intermittently beginning at 0950z through 1103z.  At 1002z, SSR
  pointers were repositioned to minimize data loss.  After the station switched
  antenna tracking modes 1102z, the issued cleared.  At 1216z, the primary
  command workstation rebooted after transitioning to the backup generator from
  a loss of commercial power.  The progress of the 103rd momentum dump was
  monitored on the backup command workstation.  These anomalies resulted in the
  loss of 5103 frames of real-time telemetry and SSR data.  See DR #M110265 for
  more information.

* On day 283 (Oct 10), during the ESA Malargue (DSS-84) support for Ahead,
  initial telemetry reception was delayed 3 minutes due to a data control
  configuration at the DSN.  Telemetry was received at 2058z.  At 2232z, the
  primary command workstation rebooted after transitioning to the backup
  generator from a loss of commercial power.  The track was monitored on the
  backup command workstation for 10 minutes.  Post track, the issue with the
  primary command workstation rebooting upon loss of commercial power was
  traced to the workstation being on a non-UPS circuit after recent maintenance
  was performed.  Post track, it was determined that the science SSR playback
  was started 13 minutes before BOT.  As this missing data was retrieved on day
  287, a new version 05, of the data products has been created.  All SSR data
  were recovered.  These anomalies resulted in the loss of 3 minutes of
  real-time telemetry and monitor data.  See DR# N110802 for more information.

* On day 284 (Oct 11), during the DSS-35 support for Ahead, monitor data was
  lost for 32 minutes beginning at 0710z due to both monitor data servers going
  off-line at the DSN.  Monitor data was restored at 0742z.  This anomaly
  resulted in the loss of 32 minutes of monitor data.  All SSR data was
  recovered.  See DR# N110802 for more information.

* On day 284 (Oct 11), during the DSS-14 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock
  was lost intermittently beginning at 1849z.  At 1945z, SSR pointers were
  repositioned to minimize data loss.  Later at 2043z, SLE command and
  telemetry binds were lost.  The binds were restored at 2141z.  All SSR data
  were recovered.  These anomalies resulted in the loss of 58 minutes of
  real-time telemetry and monitor data.  See DR #G118549 for more information.

* On day 282 (Oct 9), the 103rd momentum dump on Ahead was executed
  successfully at 1200z, which imparted an estimated delta V of 0.089 m/sec.
  This was the 22nd momentum dump that did not use the IMU.  After thruster
  operations complete, there was a 0.73 degree of roll angle error which was
  dampened out over the next 15.5 minutes.  Fine pointing stabilized 2.4
  minutes after completion of the momentum dump.

* The average daily science data return for Ahead was 5.7 Gbits during this
  week.

* Daily attempts to recover Behind continued.  No downlink signal was detected
  during the week.

* On day 282 (Oct 9), during a 2.5 hour 1 kHz battery recovery support for
  Behind with DSS-14, 189 commands were transmitted for battery state of charge
  recovery.  Due to the duration of the support, only 21 of the 36 frequency
  segments were commanded.

* On day 283 (Oct 10), during a 3.5 hour 1 kHz carrier recovery support for
  Behind with DSS-14, the transmitter tripped off-line at 1403z.  It was placed
  back on line at 1409z and one command segment was lost.  See DR #G118542 for
  more information.  360 commands were sent for transmitter carrier recovery.
  No carrier was detected by either the DSN station or the radio science
  receiver team.  Due to the duration of the support and the increased commands
  for each step, only 18 of the 36 frequency segments were commanded.  Three
  commands must be received sequentially to power on the transmitter.

* On day 284 (Oct 11), during a 4 hour 4 kHz carrier recovery support for
  Behind with DSS-14, 420 commands were transmitted during the support.  At
  1455z, moved the antenna to -0.02 degrees along track for uplink optimization
  and continued uplinking.  No carrier was detected by either the DSN station
  or the radio science receiver team after attempting to power on the TWTA for
  30 minutes.  Transitioned to battery recovery operations for the remainder of
  the support which consists of repeatedly sweeping a 4 kHz uplink range and
  sending commands for IEM switched power and PDU 1553 interface bus off.

* On day 285 (Oct 12), during a 3 hour 4 kHz battery recovery search pattern
  support for Behind with DSS-63, 320 commands were transmitted during the
  support for battery state of charge recovery.  All 7 points on the pattern
  were covered twice.

* On day 286 (Oct 13), during a 3.1 hour 4 kHz carrier recovery search pattern
  support for Behind with DSS-14, 320 commands were transmitted during the
  support for carrier recovery.  No carrier was detected by either the DSN
  station or the radio science receiver team.  Three commands must be received
  sequentially to power on the transmitter.

* On day 287 (Oct 14), during a 4 hour 4 kHz carrier recovery support for
  Behind with DSS-14, 420 commands were transmitted during the support.  No
  carrier was detected by either the DSN station or the radio science receiver
  team after attempting to power on the TWTA for 30 minutes.  Transitioned to
  battery recovery operations for the remainder of the support which consists
  of repeatedly sweeping a 4 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM
  switched power and PDU 1553 interface bus off.

* On day 288 (Oct 15), during a 3.5 hour 4 kHz carrier recovery support for
  Behind with DSS-14, 380 commands were transmitted during the support.  No
  carrier was detected by either the DSN station or the radio science receiver
  team after attempting to power on the TWTA for 30 minutes.  Transitioned to
  battery recovery operations for the remainder of the support which consists
  of repeatedly sweeping a 4 kHz uplink range and sending commands for IEM
  switched power and PDU 1553 interface bus off.

Week 42 (Oct 16-22)

* The station 14 transmitter was offline during the Behind support yesterday
  (Oct 16), resulting in the loss of the battery recovery double diamond search
  pattern.

* Power substation maintenance is currently scheduled for Saturday, Oct 21.
  See above for details.

* ESA stations will be used four times during the week, including both New
  Norcia and Malargue stations.

* Ahead has 16 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are three tracks at 720 kbps, two at 240 kbps, and eleven at 160 kbps.

* Recovery tracks for Behind are scheduled every day using the 70-m antenna, of
  2.5-3.7 hour durations with the 1 kHz frequency segmented acquisition
  sequence being used on Thursday for battery recovery and Friday for carrier
  recovery.  Double diamond shaped search patterns will be used on Monday
  (battery) and Wednesday (carrier).

Week 43 (Oct 23-29)

* 11th launch anniversary of the STEREO mission on Oct. 25th. 

* Ahead has 19 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are three tracks at 720 kbps, three at 240 kbps, and thirteen at 160 kbps
  (two tracks are using ESA stations).

* Recovery tracks for Behind are scheduled every day using the 70-m stations,
  of 2.5-4 hour durations with the 1 kHz frequency segmented acquisition
  sequence being used on Tuesday for battery recovery and Wednesday for carrier
  recovery.  Double diamond shaped search patterns will be used on Monday
  (battery) and Thursday (carrier).

Week 44 (Oct 30-Nov 5)

* Daily standard time in the US ends on Sunday, Nov 5.

* Ahead has 16 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are two tracks at 720 kbps, three at 240 kbps, and eleven at 160 kbps.

* This is the last week of daily attempts to contact Behind.  Recovery tracks
  are scheduled every day using 70 m stations, of 2-3.2 hour durations.  DSN
  time starting this week is very contentious due to the line-up of multiple
  missions in the same region of the sky, and the fact that only two 70 meter
  DSN dishes are operating.  Double iamond shaped search patterns will be used
  on Monday (battery) and Friday (carrier).  The 1 kHz frequence segmented
  acquisition sequence will not be used during the week because of the short
  track durations.

Week 45 (Nov 6-12)

* Ahead has 18 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are two tracks at 720 kbps, three at 240 kbps, and thirteen at 160 kbps.
  Four of these tracks use ESA stations.

* Tracks to recover Behind switch to a weekly schedule, with tracks scheduled
  to keep within the 3 day onboard timer.  Behind recovery tracks are scheduled
  for Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday.  The Tuesday and Friday passes will use
  the double diamond search pattern, with the first for battery recovery, and
  the second for carrier recovery.

Week 46 (Nov 13-19)

* A 2.2 hour demonstration track with station 25 is scheduled for Monday,
  Nov 13.  There will be no instrument commanding or SSR playback during this
  track.

* The 104th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov 15, with
  ignition at 16:00 UT.  This will be the 23rd dump without using the gyros.

* Ahead has 16 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  is one track at 720 kbps, three at 240 kbps, and twelve at 160 kbps.  Two of
  those tracks use ESA stations.

* Double diamond search patterns for Behind recovery are scheduled for
  Thursday, Nov 16 (battery) and Saturday, Nov 19.  Another recovery track
  is scheduled for Monday, Nov 13.

Week 47 (Nov 20-26)

* Thursday, Nov 23, is Thanksgiving.  Both Thursday and Friday, Nov 23-24, are
  holidays at APL.

* Ahead has 16 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal  There
  is one track at 720 kbps, three at 240 kbps, and twelve at 160 kbps.

* Double diamond search patterns for Behind recovery are scheduled for Tuesday,
  Nov 21 (battery) and Wednesday, Nov 22 (carrier).  Another recovery track is
  scheduled for Saturday, Nov 25.


COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 42:

M Oct 16 (289)  
T Oct 17 (290)  
W Oct 18 (291)  
T Oct 19 (292)  
F Oct 20 (293)  
S Oct 21 (294)  
S Oct 22 (295)  

Notes:

* Behind recovery attempts each day.  The Thursday and Friday Behind recovery
  passes use the original frequency acquisition sequence with the broader
  18 kHz range.  The first pass is for battery recovery, and the second is for
  carrier recovery.  Double diamond shaped search patterns on Monday (battery)
  and Wednesday (carrier).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 43:

M Oct 23 (296)  
T Oct 24 (297)  
W Oct 25 (298)  11th anniversary of STEREO launch
T Oct 26 (299)  
F Oct 27 (300)  
S Oct 28 (301)  
S Oct 29 (302)  

Notes:

* Behind recovery attempts each day.  The Tuesday and Wednesday Behind recovery
  passes use the original frequency acquisition sequence with the broader
  18 kHz range.  The first pass is for battery recovery, and the second is for
  carrier recovery.  Double diamond shaped search patterns on Monday (battery)
  and Thursday (carrier).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 44:

M Oct 30 (303)  
T Oct 31 (304)  
W Nov 01 (305)  
T Nov 02 (306)  
F Nov 03 (307)  
S Nov 04 (308)  
S Nov 05 (309)  Daylight savings time ends in US

Notes:

* Behind recovery attempts each day.  Double diamond shaped search patterns on
  Monday (battery) and Friday (carrier).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 45:

M Nov 06 (310)  
T Nov 07 (311)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (search pattern, battery)
W Nov 08 (312)  
T Nov 09 (313)  
F Nov 10 (314)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (search pattern, carrier)
S Nov 11 (315)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14
S Nov 12 (316)  

Notes:

* Behind recovery attempts switch back to weekly, roughly every 2-3 days.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 46:

M Nov 13 (317)  Ahead:	Demonstration track with station 25
		Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 63
T Nov 14 (318)  
W Nov 15 (319)  Ahead:	Momentum dump, 16:00 UT
T Nov 16 (320)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 63 (search pattern, battery)
F Nov 17 (321)  
S Nov 18 (322)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 63 (search pattern, carrier)
S Nov 19 (323)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 47:

M Nov 20 (324)  
T Nov 21 (325)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 63 (search pattern, battery)
W Nov 22 (326)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14 (search pattern, carrier)
T Nov 23 (327)  Thanksgiving
F Nov 24 (328)  
S Nov 25 (329)  Behind:	Recovery track, DSN 14
S Nov 26 (330)  

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


Upcoming events:

Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft.

2018:

* Mar 5			Ahead:	Mercury transit

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.