NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Erica Hupp/Dolores Beasley
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202.358-1237/1753)

Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256.544.0034)

Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Mass.
(Phone: 617.496.7998)
News release: 05-069


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Images taken Jan. 20, 2004, from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory indicate that Saturn may act as a mirror, reflecting explosive activity from the Sun. Chandra captured the image at left just before a medium-sized flare occurred on the Sun. The image at right coincided with the solar flare and represents the first observation of an X-ray flare reflected from Saturn’s low-latitudes.

The Marshall Center manages the Chandra program. (NASA/CXC et al.)

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Images captured by the GOES Solar X-Ray Imager illustrate the difference in the Sun before and after a solar flare. The groundbreaking first observation of X-rays from Saturn’s low-latitudes appeared as a direct response to this flare, at left, from a sunspot clearly visible from Saturn and Earth.

This flare was classified as an M6. M-class flares are medium-sized, generally causing brief radio blackouts at Earth's polar regions. With nine subdivisions for X-ray flares, an M6 flare is more powerful than those ranked M1 through M5. (NOAA/SEC)

+ News Release
+ Video
+ Chandra Fact Sheet