The European Space Agency (ESA) compiled a wonderful mosaic of images, and NASA put together a remarkable SOHO "greatest hits" video covering the top missions in the history of the probe which launched in December, 25 years ago.
SOHO was designed to observe the Sun and its atmosphere for two years only. But the spacecraft showed itself to be a workhorse, and the mission was so successful that ESA and NASA decided to prolong its life several times.
The probe has collected massive data used in nearly 6,000 scientific papers, including the compiled mosaic designed by ESA. According to a report published Sunday by the Science Alert website, the mosaic includes the first images ever of a star's convection zone and of the structure of sunspots below the surface, the most detailed and precise measurements of the temperature structure, the interior rotation, and gas flows in the solar interior. It also includes images of the new dynamic solar phenomena such as coronal waves and solar tornadoes.
"These images are the greatest achievement of this probe, which has been a cornerstone of modern solar physics," said Professor Peter Gallagher, director of Dunsink Observatory in Dublin Ireland, and head of Astrophysics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS).
The scientific payload of SOHO comprises 12 complementary instruments, developed and furnished by an international consortium of 29 institutes from 15 countries. More than 1,500 scientists in countries from around the world are either directly involved in SOHO's instruments or have used SOHO data in their research programs.
Astrophysicist Karl Battams, who is the principal investigator for one of SOHO's instruments, said on Twitter that when he was an undergrad in 2001, his solar physics professor "told us that if we had any solar physics textbooks published before SOHO, we should not use them for her class. SOHO literally re-wrote the books on solar physics.
"It has been, and continues to be, an absolute honor and privilege to work on such an incredible mission, with such an amazing team of scientists and engineers!" added Battams.
