Why Do Sun-Gazing Spacecraft Get Cloudy Vision?
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare on January 9, 2023.Image: NASA/SDOEarth’s host star can be quite temperamental, compelling astronomers to launch satellites and probes on missions to keep a close watch of the Sun’s massive flares. But instruments pointed towards the Sun have a tendency to acquire cloudy vision as the result of a mysterious layer that’s puzzled scientists for years.Instruments on board NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which has been observing the Sun since…