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 2017-06-27 (Week 26)

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

* None.


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

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

* Attempts to recover Behind have transitioned back to a monthly schedule.  On
  July 11 the schedule will switch to weekly.

* Next week's telecon will be held on Wednesday, July 5, because of the
  Independence Day holiday.  The start time will still be 12:30 EDT.


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

Week 25 (Jun 19-25)

* On day 170 (Jun 19), during the DSS-63 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock
  was lost briefly at 0737z.  This anomaly resulted in the loss of 129 frames
  of SSR data, which works out to a few seconds worth of telemetry.  See DR
  #N110629 for more information.

* On day 172 (Jun 21), during the DSS-15 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock
  was lost briefly at 1847z.  This anomaly resulted in the loss of one frame of
  SSR data, near the beginning of the track.

* On day 173 (Jun 22), during the DSS-24 support for Ahead, turbo decoder lock
  was lost briefly at 174-0115z.  This anomaly resulted in the loss of two
  frames of SSR data.

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

* The next recovery attempt for Behind will be on July 11, which is also when
  the recovery schedule changes from monthly to weekly.  70 meter passes will
  be scheduled to not be more than 3 days apart, so that if any commands manage
  to get in, the next pass will be before the hard command loss timer fires.

* A recovery planning meeting was held this morning (Jun 27).  Another meeting
  is expected to be scheduled in about two weeks time.

Week 26 (Jun 26-Jul 2)

* DSN stations were down for 14 hours yesterday (Jun 26) for a "Follow the Sun"
  exercise.  This did not affect STEREO operations.

* The 100th momentum dump on Ahead is scheduled for Thursday, Jun 29, starting
  at 17:30 UT.  This will be the 19th dump without using the gyros.

* Ahead has 13 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal  There
  are eight tracks at 720 kbps, three at 240 kbps, and two at 160 kbps.

* There are no tracks for Behind during the week.

Week 27 (Jul 3-9)

* Tuesday, July 4, is Independence Day, which is a holiday at APL.

* Ahead has 9 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are seven tracks at 720 kbps, one at 240 kbps, and one at 160 kbps.

* There are no tracks for Behind during the week.

Week 28 (Jul 10-16)

* Ahead has 11 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are eight tracks at 720 kbps, two at 240 kbps, and one at 160 kbps.

* Recovery operations for Behind switch from a monthly to a weekly schedule.
  Three 4 hour tracks per week are scheduled, spaced so that if any commands do
  reach the spacecraft, the command loss timer won't have a chance to fire
  before the next track.  Behind recovery tracks are scheduled for Tuesday,
  Thursday, and Saturday, Jul 11, 13, and 15.  The Radio Science Receiver will
  be operating during all tracks.

* A question was raised about how frequently the uplink array configuration
  will be used.  There are currently no uplink arrays scheduled.  The recovery
  attempt last year showed that there was sufficient uplink margin with a
  single 70 meter station.  Some additional uplink rates have been tested with
  Ahead to assist with the recovery.  STEREO is agreeable to scheduling
  additional uplink array attempts if DSN needs support refining the technique.

Week 29 (Jul 17-23)

* Ahead has 11 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are six tracks at 720 kbps, two at 360 kbps, one at 240 kbps, and two at 160
  kbps.

* Recovery tracks for Behind are scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday,
  Jul 18, 19, 22.  The Radio Science Receiver will be operating during all
  tracks.

Week 30 (Jul 24-30)

* A 2.6 hour project interface test has been scheduled with Ahead using station
  24 on Saturday, Jul 29.  There will be no instrument commanding or SSR
  playback during this track.  The downlink rate will be 160 kbps.

* Ahead has 9 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are seven tracks at 720 kbps, one at 360 kbps, and one at 240 kbps.

* Recovery tracks for Behind are scheduled on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and
  Saturday, July 24, 25, 28, 29.  The Radio Science Receiver will be operating
  during all tracks.

Week 31 (Jul 31-Aug 6)

* The 101st momentum dump for Ahead is scheduled for Monday, Jul 31, with
  ignition at 17:30 UT.  This will be the 20th dump without using the gyros.

* Ahead has 11 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are eight tracks at 720 kbps, one at 240 kbps, and two at 160 kbps.

* Recovery tracks for Behind are scheduled for Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday,
  Aug 1, 4, 6, all using station 63.  The Radio Science Receiver will be
  operating during all tracks.

Week 32 (Aug 7-13)

* Ahead has 9 tracks during the week, and overall coverage is nominal.  There
  are eight tracks at 720 kbps, and one at 160 kbps.

* Recovery tracks for Behind are scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday,
  Aug 7, 9, 12.  The Radio Science Receiver will be operating during all
  tracks.


COORDINATED OBSERVATIONS

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

M Jun 26 (177)  DSN stations down for "Follow the Sun" exercise
T Jun 27 (178)  
W Jun 28 (179)  
T Jun 29 (180)  Ahead:	Momentum dump, 17:30 UT
F Jun 30 (181)  
S Jul 01 (182)  
S Jul 02 (183)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 27:

M Jul 03 (184)  
T Jul 04 (185)  Independence Day
W Jul 05 (186)  
T Jul 06 (187)  
F Jul 07 (188)  
S Jul 08 (189)  
S Jul 09 (190)  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scheduled activities for Week 28:

M Jul 10 (191)  
T Jul 11 (192)  Behind: Recovery track with station 63
W Jul 12 (193)  
T Jul 13 (194)  Behind: Recovery track with station 43
F Jul 14 (195)  
S Jul 15 (196)  Behind: Recovery track with station 43
S Jul 16 (197)  

Notes:

* Start of weekly recovery attempts to recovery Behind spacecraft.

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

M Jul 17 (198)  
T Jul 18 (199)  Behind: Recovery track with station 63
W Jul 19 (200)  Behind: Recovery track with station 43
T Jul 20 (201)  
F Jul 21 (202)  
S Jul 22 (203)  Behind: Recovery track with station 63
S Jul 23 (204)  

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

M Jul 24 (205)  Behind: Recovery track with station 63
T Jul 25 (206)  Behind: Recovery track with station 63
W Jul 26 (207)  
T Jul 27 (208)  
F Jul 28 (209)  Behind: Recovery track with station 63
S Jul 29 (210)  Ahead:	Project interface test with station 24
		Behind: Recovery track with station 63
S Jul 30 (211)  

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

M Jul 31 (212)  Ahead:	Momentum dump, 17:30 UT
T Aug 01 (213)  Behind: Recovery track with station 63
W Aug 02 (214)  
T Aug 03 (215)  
F Aug 04 (216)  Behind: Recovery track with station 63
S Aug 05 (217)  
S Aug 06 (218)  Behind: Recovery track with station 63

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

M Aug 07 (219)  Behind:	Recovery track with station 63
T Aug 08 (220)  
W Aug 09 (221)  Behind: Recovery track with station 43
T Aug 10 (222)  
F Aug 11 (223)  
S Aug 12 (224)  Behind: Recovery track with station 14
S Aug 13 (225)  

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


Upcoming events:

Behind events are contingent on recovering the spacecraft.

2017:

* Aug 21		Behind: Switch to daily recovery attempts

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.