Sunny sights
A JOINT venture between the European Space Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), us, has led to the launching of the us $1 billion Solar and Helioscopic Observatory (SOHO) from Cape Canaveral in the us. The main focus of SOHO will be on recording information about the largest star in the galaxy - the sun.
Instruments aboard SOHO, which was launched last month, will study the sun's light and try to unravel the mystery behind the solar wind which sweeps the earth and sometimes disrupts communications. According to SOHO's Richard Harrison, "We should be able to understand better our star, the sun, and its influence on our planet, the Earth."