Acronyms

Supplemental glossary of acronyms occurring specifically in these nuggets.  Click on the letter that appears at the beginning of the acronym. Use the search capability of these Nuggets pages to find uses of these acronyms.

A  B  C  D  E  F   G  H  I  J   K  L  M   N  O  P  Q   R   S   T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

A
APOD -  Astronomy Picture of the Day, click APOD  to go there.
AR -  Active Region, the site of strong magnetic fields and bright emission.
AU -  Astronomical Unit, the average Sun-Earth distance (150 million km).

B
BCS -  Bragg Crystal Spectrometer, an instrument for observing X-ray spectra on board the Yohkoh satellite.

C
CCD -  Charge Coupled Device, the solid state detector used to make the images in the Yohkoh Soft X-Ray Telescope.
CDS -  Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer, an instrument onboard the SOHO satellite.
CME -  Coronal Mass Ejection, a massive eruption of the Sun's corona.

D
DEM -  Differential Emission Measure -- see the nugget for March 31, 2000.
DN -  Data Number, the unit in which the SXT image brightness is expressed.
DSN -  Deep Space Network, NASA's network of receivers through which some of the Yohkoh data are downlinked to Earth.

E
EFR -  Emerging Flux Region.  A region on the photosphere in which magnetic flux is emerging into the corona
EIT -  Extreme Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope aboard the SOHO satellite.
EUV -  Extreme Ultra-Violet, the range of the spectrum between X-rays and Ultraviolet.

F
FFI -  Full Frame Image from the Yohkoh SXT.
FOV - Field Of View, the spatial region instantaneously imaged.

G
GBO - Ground Based Observatory.
GOES - Geosynchronous weather satellites of NOAA, which have a solar X-ray detector on board.

H
HXR  -  Hard X-ray, a very energetic X-ray photon. HXRs from the Sun originate in solar flares.
HXT  -  Hard X-ray Telescope, onboard the Yohkoh satellite.

I
IDL -  Interactive Data Language, the computer language used for most of the SXT data analysis
ISAS -  Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences (the Japanese space agency for science)

J
JOP -  Joint Observing Program, a plan for running two or more observatories in coordinated manner for a common goal.
JST -  Japanese Standard Time

K

L
LDE -  Long Duration/Decay Event, a type of flare often associated with an eruption.

M
MDI -  Michelson Doppler Imager, an instrument aboard the SOHO satellite.
MHD  -  MagnetoHydroDynamics, the science of magnetized fluids and gasses.
MLSO  -  Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (Hawaii).
MMF  -  Moving Magnetic Feature, typically a small bipole slowly moving away from a larger, decaying sunspot.

N
NOAA  -  National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Admistration.

O

P
PFI -  Partial Frame Image, a standard image format for SXT images with a field of view less than the full Sun.

Q

R
ROI - Region of Interest

S
SAA - South Atlantic Anomaly, where Yohkoh's orbit intersects the Earth's radiation belts, damaging our data. See this link.
SAD - Supra-Arcade Downflow, one of Yohkoh's major discoveries.
SDAC - Solar Data Analysis Center at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
SFD - SXT Full Disk, a standard image format that shows the full solar disk. SFD images are composites of several different exposures, and sometime show artifacts for that reason.
SOHO - Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, an ESA/NASA solar satellite (sometimes SoHO).
SUMER - Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation, an instrument on the SOHO satellite.
SXR - Soft X-Ray, like physicians use to study your body, capable of penetrating soft tissue, but not bones. SXRs from the Sun originate in the million-degree solar corona.
SXT - Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope, on which the Nuggets are based.

T
TIL - Transequatorial Interconnecting Loop.
TRACE - Transition Region and Coronal Explorer, a NASA solar satellite.

U
UVCS - Ultraviolet Coronal Spectrometer, an instrument aboard the ESA/NASA SOHO satellite.

V

W
WBS - Wide Band Spectrometer, an X-Ray and Gamma Ray Detector aboard the Yohkoh Satellite.

X
XBP - X-ray Bright Point, a small brief brightening in X-rays that coincides with a small magnetic bipole.

Y
Yohkoh means 'Sunbeam' in Japanese.
YDAC - Yohkoh Data Analysis Center at Mullard Space Science Laboratory of University College London.

Z