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The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
The SOHO mission is a part of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
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European Space Agency
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Latest News

SOHO "Pick of the Week" Hits Impressive Milestone

Three coronagraph images of CMEs taken by SOHO with inner disk solar images taken at the same time by SDO.
01.04.12

In late November, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory's (SOHO) online 'Pick of the Week' reached an impressive milestone: its 500th edition.

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Comet Lovejoy Plunges into the Sun and Survives

Comet Lovejoy emerges out from behind the suns western limb.
12.16.11

An armada of spacecraft witnessed something that many experts thought impossible. Comet Lovejoy flew through the hot atmosphere of the sun and emerged intact.


Comet Lovejoy -- Many Views

On left Comet Lovejoy as it approaches the Sun.
12.19.11

Another view of Comet Lovejoy's solar approach taken by Hinode.


SOHO Mission

    The Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) project is a cooperative effort between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. SOHO was 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.

    SOHO was launched on December 2, 1995. The SOHO spacecraft was built in Europe by an industry team led by Matra, and instruments were provided by European and American scientists. NASA was responsible for the launch and is now responsible for mission operations. Large radio dishes around the world which form NASA's Deep Space Network are used to track the spacecraft beyond the Earth's orbit. Mission control is based at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Mission News

  • Incoming Comet; Outgoing CME

    10.04.11 - On October 2, 2011, an exceptionally bright comet headed toward the sun and disintegrated; moments later a large coronal mass ejection (CME) blew off the other side of the sun.

  • A Solar Flare and a CME

    09.22.11 - Our increasingly active Sun produced a large CME yesterday evening and an X1.4 class flare this morning. This increased solar activity is a normal byproduct as the sun approaches solar max.

  • Six CMEs in 24 Hours

    09.20.11 - The sun let loose with at least six coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from 7 PM ET on September 18, 2011 until 1 PM on September 19. One may impact Earth and spark aurora tomorrow.

  • Sunspot Breakthrough

    08.24.11 - Scientists detected several sunspot regions in the deep interior of the sun, 1-2 days before they appeared on the solar disc.

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