CDS : Coronal Diagnostics Spectrometer

CDS observes the solar corona in ultraviolet radiation. It looks at small pieces of the Sun ust a few times the size of the Earth!) with a range of temperatures all at the same time. You can then calculate the density and speed of the solar matter you are looking at.

CDS can observe the atmosphere in great detail, so very fine structures can be seen. The instrument can take a new observations every few seconds, so the changes in the corona can be followed very accurately.

Pictures courtesy of the SOHO CDS consortium.


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