STEREO 3D Tour

We want to take you on a brief tour of the Sun in 2D and 3D as seen in extreme ultraviolet light (171 Angstroms). The 3D effect is creating by made by combining images taken at the same time from the two STEREO spacecraft. We start with a full disk view of the Sun on May 15, 2007. Then, we zoom in on the largest active region on the Sun, the bright area with the faint circles of magnetic loops arcing above it. We proceed down to the lower third of the Sun to see two darker regions called coronal holes. High-speed solar wind emerges from these magnetically open areas. Since they are less dense, they appear darker in this wavelength. We then move to the right to visit a smaller active region whose magnetic loops are easier to see since they extend above the edge of the Sun. Finally, we pull back to the full disk. You can manage your own tours with the help of some nifty software – try it out on this same page.

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3D Movie

Quicktime: Lo-Res (3.02 mb) Hi-Res (25.44 mb)

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2D Movie

Quicktime: Lo-Res (25.44 mb) Hi-Res (25.44 mb)

MPEG: Hi-Res (6.68 mb)