X-Raying the Sun

At solar observatories scattered throughout the U.S., astronomers reached for their telephones one day last June and called the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Each observer had spotted the beginnings of a solar flare, an extremely hot outburst of high-energy particles on the surface of the sun that often precedes magnetic storms in the earth's ionosphere. Within minutes, an Aerobee rocket soared from its launch pad, carrying with it the largest X-ray telescope ever sent into space.

As the Aerobee arced above the atmosphere, which screens X rays from the earth, a camera focused on the image of the 9-in. telescope began shooting pictures. The film pack, dropped back to earth by parachute, contained a dozen of the most detailed X-ray photographs ever taken of the sun. The prints showed the X-ray structure of a flare at the sun's center. Other X-ray-emitting solar regions came through as bright splotches on an otherwise dark disk.

Scientists at American Science and Engineering Corp. who designed the X-ray telescope system are confident that their photographs will give new insights into the still-mysterious nature of the workings of the sun. Eventually, study of these X-ray outbursts may provide a better understanding of the cause of solar-magnetic disturbances and help scientists to forecast flares. Such early warnings could be vital to astronauts exploring the surface of the moon. Unless they take cover in their spacecraft before a hail of particles arrives from the sun, the explorers could receive a deadly dose of radiation.

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