SOHO Bakeout
on Dec 30, 2003

Major solar activity is occurring right now. CCD Bakeout on certain images. Why? Not been a Major Flare. What´s going on?
godlikeproduction Message Board
 
The SOHO has a messages stating ‘SOHO is not in contact’. The last images shown on Dec 30 are from Dec 25-29. Note in the photos from Calfornia and New York that the dust cloud has wafted in front of the Sun, thus, excuses for a lack of SOHO images.
Nancy

We bake out the CCD by turning on small electric heaters on the CCD camera. This raises the CCD temperature to ~ +16 C. We do so every ~ 3 months, during SOHO telemetry keyholes, for 7 - 10 days; we also run extensive detector efficiency tests before and after the bakeout. If nothing else, it gives our crack operations team some much-needed time off now and then. So please be patient, and we´ll be back with more EUV solar images soon.