Interstellar Breeze
Date: 24 April 1998
Satellite: SOHO
Depicts: Intersteller wind
Copyright: See below
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An unprecedented chart shows the true direction and apparent speed of a
breeze of atoms, mainly hydrogen, that comes from the stars and blows
right through the Solar System. In the solar spacecraft SOHO, built by
the European Space Agency, the SWAN instrument detects a characteristic
ultraviolet glow filling the sky, coming from the hydrogen atoms. Small
shifts in the ultraviolet wavelength reveal the speed of the breeze.
Last Update: 1 September 2019