| Artists impression of the SOHO spacecraft
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| LAUNCH DATE: |
02-Dec-1995 08:08 UT
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| MISSION END: | 31 December 2012 (extended mission), subject to a mid-term review in 2010 |
| LAUNCH VEHICLE: | Atlas II-AS (AC-121) |
| LAUNCH MASS: | 1850 kg |
| MISSION PHASE: |
Operational |
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SOHO is operated from a permanent vantage point 1.5 million kilometers sunward of the Earth in a halo orbit around the first Lagrangian point. |
Discoveries from SOHO include:
- Complex currents of gas flowing beneath the visible surface of the Sun
- Rapid changes in the pattern of magnetic fields
SOHO has:
- Made the largest and most detailed database of solar surface features.
- Become the most prolific discoverer of comets in the history of astronomy, although not designed for the purpose.
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SOHO (SOlar Heliospheric Observatory) is a space-based observatory, viewing and investigating the Sun from its deep core, through its outer atmosphere - the corona - and the domain of the solar wind, out to a distance ten times beyond the Earth's orbit. |
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