The American Space Agency has prepared a beautiful video to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of one of the most important missions of solar research. Thanks to the SOHO probe, we have broadened the horizons of knowledge about this star.
On the video footage, which lasts 47 minutes, we can see the activity of our daily star over a period of 22 years, i.e. between 1998 and 2020. It is worth spending this time watching it from beginning to end, because over the years there have been many fascinating and dangerous phenomena on the Sun that shook mankind.
We are talking here not only about the flyovers / strikes of comets (Lovejoy or ISON), but most of all about the appearance of powerful spots and gigantic ejections of matter that have gone down in the history of this star's research. One of them was not aimed at our planet, but if it did, it could end tragically for us. Now the Sun has entered a new 25th cycle of activity. Scientists predict that it will not be rich in stains and explosions of matter.
The SOHO probe will recententertainment its life in 2025. Much more advanced probes will be tasked with observing the Sun and forecasting space weather. However, it is thanks to SOHO that we have learned a few secrets hidden by the Sun like never before in history. They will allow us to better protect ourselves in the event of a rapidly approaching solar cataclysm.
The discoveries made with SOHO will also help astronomers better understand the formation process of our day star and its impact on the formation history of the solar system's planets (and exoplanets), including the Earth, as well as trace the adventures of various forms of life flourishing there. The sun is not capable of generating such powerful flares, and if it were, we would not even know it, because simply no biological organism would survive such extreme phenomena.