This movie illustrates the orbital motions of the two STEREO spacecraft relative to the Earth (and noting the positions of the planets Mercury & Venus for reference). The camera occupies a position fixed relative to the Earth and Sun, so the distant starfield appears to spin around the observer.
Because the frames are sampled at one per solar day, the Earth does not appear to rotate, but patient observation reveals that the tilt of the planet relative to the Sun, varies throughout the year, with the northern hemisphere tilted towards the Sun in northern hemisphere summer and away from the Sun in northern hemisphere winter.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 352210, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3809/#media_group_352210", "widget": "Video player", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "This movie shows the STEREO spacecraft moving around the Sun relative to Earth's orbit, the orbit plotted through 2019, after the two STEREOs cross behind the Sun relative to Earth. The Earth is enlarged to keep it visible. 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The Sun is enlarged by a factor of 5 for visibility,", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } }, { "id": 332432, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 488561, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003800/a003809/frames/1920x1080_16x9_30p/BigSun/", "filename": "BigSun", "media_type": "Frames", "alt_text": "This movie shows the STEREO spacecraft moving around the Sun relative to Earth's orbit, the orbit plotted through 2019, after the two STEREOs cross behind the Sun relative to Earth. The Earth is enlarged to keep it visible. 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Thompson", "employer": "ADNET Systems, Inc." } ] } ], "missions": [ "SDO", "SOHO", "STEREO" ], "series": [ "Sun 360" ], "tapes": [], "papers": [], "datasets": [ { "name": "304 Filter", "common_name": "SOHO/EIT 304", "platform": "SOHO", "sensor": "Extreme-UV Imaging Telescope (EIT)", "type": "Other", "organizations": [ "NASA and ESA" ], "description": "", "credit": "", "url": "http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov", "date_range": null }, { "name": "304 Angstroms", "common_name": "", "platform": "STEREO", "sensor": "Extreme UltraViolet Imager (EUVI)", "type": "Other", "organizations": [], "description": "", "credit": "", "url": "https://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov", "date_range": null }, { "name": "304 Filter", "common_name": "AIA 304", "platform": "SDO", "sensor": "AIA", "type": "Other", "organizations": [ "JOINT SCIENCE OPERATIONS CENTER " ], "description": "", "credit": "", "url": "http://jsoc.stanford.edu/", "date_range": null } ], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Sun" ], "keywords": [ "EUV Imaging", "Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging", "HDTV", "STEREO" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 5136, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5136/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "STEREO-A Returns by Earth", "description": "The Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission was launched on October 25, 2006, with the purpose of tracing the flow of energy and matter from the Sun to Earth. The STEREO mission began with two spacecraft: STEREO-A and STEREO-B. Each was launched into Sun-orbiting trajectories - STEREO-A moving ahead of Earth, and STEREO-B moving behind Earth (STEREO's Routes to Solar Orbits). In mid-August 2023, the still-operational STEREO-A (STEREO-B went offline in October 2014) will pass Earth for the first time since its launch 17 years ago. Like race cars driving different speeds around a circular track, STEREO-A is traveling slightly faster than Earth around the Sun. After launch, STEREO-A pulled ahead of Earth and extended its lead a little bit more with each orbit. Now, STEREO-A’s lead is so great that it is catching up to Earth from behind and is about to “lap” Earth, having completed 18 circuits around the Sun while Earth completed just 17. || ", "release_date": "2023-08-22T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2025-01-06T00:44:34.491471-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 857695, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a005100/a005136/STEREOflyby.STEREOflybyZoom.GSE.AU.clockSlate_EarthTarget.HD1080.00500_print.jpg", "filename": "STEREOflyby.STEREOflybyZoom.GSE.AU.clockSlate_EarthTarget.HD1080.00500_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A view of the orbit of STEREO-A relative to Earth from mid-June 2023 to mid-October 2023, as it passes Earth. The camera is anchored on the Earth-Sun line so Earth and the Sun appear fixed while the distant stars appear to move around the camera. This movie starts with a wide view of the inner solar system with STEREO-A and Earth marked. The camera then zooms in to a closer view of Earth showing Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) orbiting Earth, the heliophysics missions orbiting the L1 Lagrange Point (the green cross), and the orbit of the Moon.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }