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Article 2006

From Popular Science, November 13, 2006

A 3-D Look At the Sun's Eruptions

Binocular vision is what allows us to perceive depth, to transform the two-dimensional images coming into each eye into a detailed 3-D view of the world. For the first time, it’s coming to a satellite. Actually, the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) comprises two satellites, one leading and one following Earth as it orbits around the Sun. STEREO will combine the images from the satellites to create 3-D views of coronal mass ejections—violent eruptions of billions of tons of solar material flying into space at a million miles an hour, which imperil satellites, astronauts and even our power grid here on Earth. The studies will allow scientists to predict if and when each burst will reach our planet. www.nasa.gov/stereo.


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