What looks like a serene ball of light from 150 million kilometers away is, in reality, a chaotic sea of plasma winds — and NASA just got its sharpest look yet.
Key Points at a Glance
- NASA’s CODEX instrument captured new images of the Sun’s outer atmosphere
- It measures both the temperature and speed of solar wind near the Sun’s surface
- CODEX uses artificial eclipses from the ISS to isolate the faint corona
- Findings show sputtering, variable plasma flows — not a uniform stream
- Improves future models of solar behavior and space weather forecasting
In a breakthrough for heliophysics, NASA’s CODEX instrument aboard the International Space Station has captured brand-new images of the Sun’s outer atmosphere — revealing not a smooth, continuous solar breeze, but gusts of searing plasma with surprising variation in speed and temperature.
This is the first time scientists have been able to observe the solar corona — the Sun’s outermost layer — with this level of diagnostic precision. Unlike previous coronagraphs, which captured only brightness and density, CODEX (Coronal Diagnostic Experiment) measures the very energy carried by the solar wind through temperature and velocity readings.
“These are brand-new observations that have never been seen before,” said principal investigator Jeffrey Newmark of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “We really never had the ability to do this kind of science until now.”
CODEX works by creating artificial solar eclipses. The instrument uses tennis ball-sized occulting disks held in front of its detectors to block the Sun’s blinding core, allowing the faint glow of the corona to come into view. Mounted on the ISS, it gives researchers a high-altitude vantage point to continuously monitor the Sun.
The most surprising finding? The solar wind doesn’t emerge as a calm stream — it stutters and surges. The CODEX data revealed fluctuating flows of hot plasma, with irregular speeds and temperatures — a detail invisible to older coronagraphs.
“This isn’t just visually impressive,” said Newmark. “It tells us how energy leaves the Sun — which has profound effects on space weather here on Earth.”
By using four specialized filters — two tuned to temperature and two to velocity — scientists can now isolate the conditions of the solar wind right at its birth. That’s key for better predicting solar storms, which can wreak havoc on satellites, communications, and even power grids.
CODEX is the result of a global collaboration between NASA, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, and Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics. Together, their goal is to bring clarity to one of the most volatile — and least understood — regions of our solar system.
Looking ahead, these measurements will feed directly into the next generation of space weather models. By pinning down how solar material behaves in the corona, scientists can better forecast how it will evolve as it races toward Earth.
One thing is clear: the Sun is far more restless than it looks. And thanks to CODEX, we’re finally able to watch its heartbeat.
Source: NASA Science
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