Data from the twin STEREO spacecraft in four different wavelengths were combined to create this image of the sun's disk. The image's colors have been enhanced to produce a three-dimensional effect when viewed with red-blue glasses.(NASA Photo)

NASA released the first three-dimensional images of our sun sent back from its twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, according to media reports Tuesday.

For the first time, scientists will be able to see structures in the sun's atmosphere in three dimensions. The new view will greatly aid scientists' ability to understand solar physics and thereby improve space weather forecasting.

The twin spacecraft were launched October 25, 2006. On January 21 they completed a series of complex maneuvers, including flying by the moon, to position the spacecraft in their mission orbits.

The two observatories are now orbiting the sun, one slightly ahead of Earth and one slightly behind, separating from each other by approximately 45 degrees per year. Just as the slight offset between a person's eyes provides depth perception, the separation of spacecraft allows 3-D images of the sun. 

That depth perception is also particularly helpful for studying a type of solar eruption called a coronal mass ejection. Along with overloading power lines and disrupting satellite communications, the eruptions can endanger astronauts on spacewalks. Scientists would like to improve predictions of the arrival time from the current day or so to a few hours, said Russell Howard, principal investigator for the Naval Research Laboratory project.

STEREO program scientist Madhulika Guhathakurta said scientists have until now been "modeling in the dark" when it came to predicting solar storms. The twin spacecraft give researchers the vantage point to "provide the observations needed to validate the models."

The sun has been relatively quiet since the launch, so STEREO scientists have not predicted the arrival of any storms yet, Plunkett said.

The eruptions - also called solar flares - typically blow a billion tons of the sun's atmosphere into space at a speed of 1 million mph. Besides power and communications problems, the phenomenon is responsible for the northern lights, or aurora borealis, the luminous display of lights seen in the upper latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

STEREO scientist Michael Kaiser said scientists would like to be able to predict solar disturbances, just as meteorologists are able to predict hurricane formation.

Editor: Yan