SOHO Questions.

Hey all,

I got a new phone and one of the apps I wanted on it was a moon phase thing. I got this one app that shows me that, plus several SOHO images of the sun that are updated daily. I'm curious as to what each one is showing exactly. I've tried to google it, but couldnt come up with a distinct answer. Here are the options of soho images I can get:

EUVI 195

MDI Continuum (i'm pretty sure this one is showing sun spots?)

EIT 171

EIT 195

EIT 284

EIT 304

NOAA POES images of the southern and northern hemisphere.

Any help?

EDIT TO ADD: If anyone else thinks this app sounds neat, check it out. It's free and I found it in the android market. I have an HTC Hero. Its called simply, "Sun and Moon" by db-ware.

[edit on 5/28/2010 by Schmidt1989]

reply to post by Schmidt1989

The EIT (and the EUVI, I don't know why they label it that way) are images taken in different bands of the extreme ultraviolet range. The different bands provide information to those who know what they are looking at about different things that are going on on the surface of the Sun.

MDI is the Michelson Doppler Imager. This thing is harder to explain but it is a telescope that is able to "look" into the interior of the Sun (somewhat). You're right though, it's most obvious use is for seeing sunspots but you don't really need to use the MDI for that.

POES is the Polar Operational Environmental Satellite. They look at the Earth and provide data about weather and all kinds of other stuff.

reply to post by Phage


This is why you're one of my favorite ATSers. Thank you very much for the information.