NuSTAR Bringing the High Energy Universe into Focus

 

About the Video

Date
October 17, 2018
ID
nustar181017v1
Type
Science
Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC/JAXA/I. Hannah (University of Glasgow)

NuSTAR's Quiet Sun

This is the first full view of the quiet Sun with NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). The high-energy X-rays from NuSTAR are shown in comparison to EUV images from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument (SDO/AIA) and the X-ray Telescope (XRT) on JAXA’s Hinode. These three telescopes all captured the quiet Sun on September 28, 2018, with the NuSTAR images made from a mosaic of smaller images.

This video highlights a variety of bright points and structures even though the Sun is nearing the minimum of its activity cycle, without any active regions or flares present. NuSTAR gives a unique view of the energetic processes that are present on the quiet Sun, helping to understand how the atmosphere of the Sun is heated.