There's a mystery happening in some satellites facing the Sun, and scientists are on the case.

View as a Web Page Solved: The Mystery of the Cloudy Filters There's a mystery happening in some satellites facing the Sun, and scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) are on the case. The team has been trying to figure out what is clouding up and compromising the performance of tiny, thin metal membranes that filter sunlight as it enters detectors that monitor the Sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays. These detectors can warn us about impending solar storms — bursts of radiation from the surface of the Sun — that could reach Earth and temporarily disrupt communications or interfere with GPS readings. Read More IN CASE YOU MISSED IT The Case of the Cloudy Filters: Solving the Mystery of the Degrading Sunlight Detectors March 25, 2021 Over the course of just a year or two, these filters mysteriously lose their ability to transmit UV light, "clouding up" and forcing astronomers to launch expensive annual recalibration missions. Read More

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