Real-time solar images

SOHO

The ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission consists of one spacecraft in a halo orbit around the Sun–Earth L1 point. From here, it has an uninterrupted view towards the Sun. SOHO carries twelve instruments but the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) instrument is now by far the most important instrument. LASCO consists of two white light coronagraphs which both cover two different field-of-views. By creating an artificial solar eclipse, this instrument reveals coronal mass ejections that erupt from the Sun as seen from Earth's point of view. This makes LASCO imagery of vital importance when it comes to deciding the trajectory of coronal mass ejections.