blackbirds, backwards: Solar activity and stars over the north pole of the Sun, photographed by SOHO, 17th & 18th October 1999.
SOHO keeps the Sun at centre frame, and so the background stars move as the spacecraft moves around the Sun, but I have rearranged the images to keep the background fixed. I was hoping to see some refraction of the stars as the plumes from the corona pass in front of them, but perhaps the gases are too tenuous, or the effect is too small to be seen at this magnification.
I do notice, however, something moving against the stars (right to left, on the left hand side of the image) - I thought at first it might be a planet, but as far as I can tell none were in such a position. It might well be a comet, or possibly an asteroid.
Image credit: NASA/ESA/GSFC. Animation: AgeOfDestruction.
Based on this list of asteroid transits through SOHO’s field of view, the mysterious dot mentioned above is very likely to be the giant asteroid 4 Vesta.
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