NASA teams up with Europe to study solar storms with a new observatory

NASA plans to build an advanced space instrument to observe the Sun. The Joint EUV Coronal Diagnostic Investigation (JEDI) will be placed aboard the European Solar Observatory Vigil, which is currently under construction by the ESA.

NASA has decided to create the Joint EUV Coronal Diagnostic Investigation (JEDI), which will use two specially designed telescopes to monitor the solar corona's activity, focusing primarily on its middle part. The solar corona is the region where the solar wind and various phenomena, including violent ones crucial for space weather, such as coronal eruptions, originate.

The JEDI telescopes will observe the Sun in the extreme ultraviolet range. This band is invisible to the human eye but provides a wealth of information about our star's behavior.

JEDI is intended to be an integral part of the European Vigil observatory. It is planned that this observatory will be launched into space in 2031 and placed in a specific location known as the 5th Lagrange point in the Earth-Sun system. This point, much like the 4th Lagrange point, forms an equilateral triangle with the Earth and the Sun.

This point is located on the orbit where the Earth revolves around the Sun, exactly 60 degrees behind our planet. A distinctive feature of this point is that an instrument placed in it naturally maintains its position. Additionally, placing the instrument in this location will allow for the observation of the Sun from a new perspective.

"Observations conducted by JEDI will help us link phenomena observed on the Sun's surface with what can be measured in its atmosphere, in the corona," explains Nicola Fox from NASA.

"In combination with the exceptionally sharp images provided by Vigil, this will allow us to gain new insights into what drives space weather. This, in turn, will help us refine the warning system for its dangerous phenomena that can harm satellites, humans in space, and the Earth," she adds.