SOHO Screensaver 1.0

A new computer screen saver made available by the European Space Agency now allows computer users to watch spectacular, almost real-time images of our Sun.

The images, coming directly from 1.5 million kilometres away in space, will flash on your computer screen courtesy of ESA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Every time your screen saver kicks in it will look, via the Internet, for the most recent images SOHO has sent to scientists. A few seconds, and the show begins. You will be able to witness exciting events as they happen on our star: huge expulsions of matter that scientists call Coronal Mass Ejections; sunspots, now growing in number as the Sun reaches the peak of activity in its 11-year cycle; and even the demise of the so-called sun-grazing comets, as they disappear forever into our star. Now, give a rest to your computer and enjoy the show live from the Sun.