Revolutionary NOAA satellite captures powerful solar flare: scientists are stunned. Photos and videos

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has shared images taken by the world's first operational space coronagraph (CCOR-1). The compact device is installed on NOAA's latest geostationary satellite GOES-19.

The powerful solar telescope captured a spectacular solar flare. Scientists are stunned by the capabilities of the new spacecraft, Space.com writes.

CCOR-1 began its mission to observe the solar corona, the weak outer layer of the solar atmosphere, on September 19. According to scientists, the telescope uses an occultation disk, visible as a dark blue circle in images, to block light from the Sun.

Experts emphasize that CCOR-1 has made significant progress in space weather monitoring. Compared to ground-based instruments, space coronagraphs do not deal with the Earth's atmosphere, which can scatter light and affect the clarity of observations. That is, CCOR-1 has a continuous view of the solar corona.

According to the scientists, the new telescope is designed to photograph the solar corona every 15 minutes. Therefore, this device is able to warn of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) – large emissions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun that can trigger geomagnetic storms on Earth.

Using the new instrument, CCOR-1 recently detected a CME flare. The video from the coronagraph shows a "well-defined" explosion coming from the eastern edge of the Sun.

"The Sun dazzles with bright radial structures along which the solar plasma moves steadily outward. CME explosions bend and sometimes disrupt the flowing plasma as they fly past at speeds of hundreds to thousands of kilometers per second," NOAA said in a statement.

Fortunately, this CME was not directed toward our planet, the researchers say. When a solar storm is directed at the Earth, it can disrupt the planet's magnetic field, leading to power and communication outages and posing a greater risk to astronauts on the space station. Therefore, improved monitoring of the solar corona will allow scientists to better predict the impact of CMEs.

NOAA plans to launch additional coronagraphs to monitor the Sun from space as part of the organization's Weather Follow-On and Space Weather Next initiatives.

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