ISS Solar Observatory

The ISS Solar Observatory is a ground-based observation facility located in the South-East part of Romania, a few miles from the capital Bucharest. It is placed on the roof of the ISS at a height of about 20 meters. The main purpose of the observatory is to create a low and medium resolution database of solar imagery in both white-light and H-alpha, with the occasional (seeing permitting) high-resolution views of specific solar features or phenomena like sunspots or flares. The construction of our solar observatory was well-timed (2020-2021), with the current solar cycle 25 predicted to peak around July 2025, and thus we will be able to observe many solar phenomena during the following years. The main and secondary instruments of the Observatory allow for both full-disk white light views of the Sun and thus Wolf Number statistics, and H-alpha regional views of medium and high resolution. A few resulting images from the last two years can be seen below.

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SUN TODAY

Source: NASA SDO

Source: NASA SDO