Solar Images to be made by unique X-ray telescope |Tweet|Solar
Images to be made by unique X-ray April 2, 1998: A unique
cluster of telescopes that make X-rays take a U-turn has been
selected for a fourth flight to capture "multicolored" images
that will help us understand why the sun's outer atmosphere is
so hot. Right: The Sun as seen in the glow of highly ionized
iron. Such images are really taken in black and white.
Scientists assign them false colors to help in studying
different images. "One of the major objectives is to follow up
on something we saw on the first flight 10 years ago," said Dr.
Arthur B.C. Walker II of Stanford University, the principal
investigator for the Chromospheric/Corona Spectroheliograph
telescope. It will actually be a bundle of up to 19 telescopes,
each taking pictures of the sun in a slightly different X-ray
energy. The array is an upgrade of the Multi-Spectral Solar
Telescope Array (MSSTA) which flew on October 23, 1987, May 13,
1991, and November 3, 1994. The 1987 flight - w