Space Team Studies Far Side Of The Sun 6-23-99

[jefflucas]

Wednesday June 23 12:59 AM ET

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<b><font size=5>Space Team Studies Far Side Of The Sun</b></font>

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PARIS (Reuters) - Scientists have found a way of using a satellite to study the hidden side of the sun, which will allow them to

predict the arrival of potentially damaging solar storms, the European Space Agency (ESA) said Tuesday.

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In a separate discovery, ESA announced that its sun-watching SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) satellite had also

revealed the largest shadow yet seen in our solar system, which was cast by a passing comet.

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SOHO was launched in 1995, and has already detected a massive explosion on the visible side of the Sun, one that three days

later knocked out a U.S. communications satellite.

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ESA scientist Jean Loup Bertaux and his team of experts have now found a way of using SOHO to get an image of activity on

the other side of the sun, providing an early warning system for previously unexpected storms.

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``Strong ultraviolet emissions from active regions at the back of the sun behave like beams from a lighthouse sweeping over the

sea,'' Bertaux was quoted by ESA as saying.

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The beams rotate through the sky with the sun, allowing SOHO to monitor the rays and establish what is going on out of its

direct sight.

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``This method could be used in future studies on space weather, which is capable of disrupting orbiting satellites and

earth-based electronics,'' Bertaux said.

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In another project, SOHO followed the Hale-Bopp comet as it blazed past the sun in 1997. Readings showed the comet

dragged behind it a 100 million km-long tail, casting a shadow which was more than 150 million km long in the sky behind it.

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``This allows us to calculate directly the amount of hydrogen and water released by the comet -- about 300 tons per second,''

Bertaux said Tuesday.