NRL's CCOR-1 captures first images of solar atmosphere

NRL's CCOR-1 captures first images of solar atmosphere
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 24, 2024

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) instrument has successfully captured its first images of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), marking a key step forward in space weather monitoring.

The CCOR, a small space telescope designed to observe the Sun's atmosphere, opened its aperture on Sept. 19 after being launched aboard NOAA's GOES-19 spacecraft on June 25 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Once exposed to sunlight, the instrument's occulter - a cylindrical device blocking the Sun's disk - created an artificial eclipse, allowing the CCOR to image only the Sun's outer atmosphere, or solar corona. "The CCOR does not observe the Sun but only its outer atmosphere, called the solar corona," explained Arnaud Thernisien, a research physicist at NRL's Space Science Division.

On Oct. 3, the instrument captured an image of a halo, a circular shape indicating a coronal mass ejection. This event triggered visible auroras, or northern lights, seen across the northern U.S. from Washington to Maine. These auroras resulted from Earth's magnetosphere being disturbed by solar wind.

Over subsequent weeks, CCOR observed several CMEs, including another halo on Oct. 10, linked to an active region on the Sun. "Halo CMEs are of particular interest for space weather as they are generally directed towards Earth," Thernisien added.

Thernisien noted the CCOR's importance for studying the solar corona, which can produce solar storms capable of disrupting technologies on Earth. "The CCOR team is thrilled to see that the instrument is performing as expected," he said.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and the Department of Defense use CCOR to detect CMEs with minimal delay, providing early warnings of solar storms that could damage satellites, disrupt communications, and cause power grid failures. As the nation's first operational coronagraph, CCOR is designed to deliver rapid observations of the solar corona and withstand space weather conditions.

NRL is also developing additional instruments, including a second coronagraph (CCOR-2) set for launch in mid-2025, and a compact coronagraph for the European Space Agency's Vigil mission, scheduled for 2031.

"The NRL team, in collaboration with the NOAA-NASA GOES Team, will continue testing CCOR-1 until the end of January 2025, when it will be handed over to NOAA," Thernisien said, expressing thanks to the supporting agencies.