Site of the Day for Wednesday, March 15, 2006 SOHO - NASA Today's site, from NASA on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft, presents dramatic images, and a galaxy of information about SOHO and the data it has collected over its more than ten year sojourn near the sun. With so many earth-origin objects chugging around the earth and solar system, Gentle Subscribers may have overlooked the invaluable scientific information and stunning photos still being transmitted by this venerable spacecraft. "SOHO was launched on 2 December 1995, for what was originally planned as a two-year mission. Ten years later, it's still going strong. ... In 1997 the mission was extended until 2003 because of its spectacular success. In 2002, a second extension of another four years was granted, that is, through March 2007. This will allow SOHO to cover a complete 11-year solar cycle. ... SOHO is designed to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive outer atmosphere and the origin of the solar wind, the stream of highly ionized gas that blows continuously outward through the Solar System." - from the website As with any NASA presentation, there's no shortage of fascinating science, especially on a project of this duration. An excellent starting point is the pdf. file, "SOHO Fact Sheet", with a summary of the SOHO mission and craft, under "The Mission" -- About" link in the left frame. Additional detailed information and diagrams about the craft, its instruments and operations are also available. Clicking on the celebratory image on the homepage leads to a collection of some amazing facts about the mission and perhaps the highlight of the site -- SOHO's dazzling imagery. In the "Dr. SOHO's Frequently Asked Questions" section a range of interesting topics, from how space weather affects earth to the future of the sun are discussed. Soar to the site for scientific data and breathtaking photos from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory mission at: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ A.M. Holm <admin-sotd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Manage your subscription and view the List archives on the web at: <//www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/webpage?webpage_id=sotd> and <//www.freelists.org/archives/sotd> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a blank email to sotd-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with unsubscribe in the Subject field.