Archive for category Releases
Yohkoh SXT full disk images now available
We are happy to announce the availability of full disk Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) images on helioviewer.org. SXT images x-rays from the Sun, and therefore looked at some of the hottest plasmas on the Sun. These data are important in trying to understand solar flares and the heating of the Sun’s corona.
Yohkoh (“Sunshine”) was launched in August 30, 1991, from the Kagoshima Space Center (Uchinoura) in Japan, and was a project of the Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). The scientific objective was to observe the energetic phenomena taking place on the Sun, specifically solar flares in x-ray and gamma-ray emissions.
Yohkoh carried four instruments to detect energetic emissions from the Sun: the Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT), the Hard X-Ray Telescope (HXT), the Bragg Crystal Spectrometer (BCS) and the Wide Band Spectrometer (WBS). A team from the United States collaborated on SXT, and teams from the United States and the United Kingdom collaborated on BCS.
SXT imaged X-rays in the 0.25 – 4.0 keV range. SXT used thin metallic filters to acquire images in restricted portions of the energy range. We are making images from the thin aluminium filter (thin-Al), and the aluminium-magnesium-manganese filter (AlMgMn) available. White-light images are also available up until November 1992. An example thin-aluminium image is shown below.
SXT could resolve features down to 2.5 arc seconds in size. Information about the temperature and density of the plasma emitting the observed x-rays was obtained by comparing images acquired with the different filters. Flare images could be obtained every 2 seconds. Smaller images with a single filter could be obtained as frequently as once every 0.5 seconds.
Yohkoh ceased operations on December 14, 2001. The SXT images we are making available cover portions of Solar Cycles 22 and 23 (we are currently somewhere close to the maximum of Solar Cyce 24). This historical data allows us to compare current solar behavior to previous solar behavior. Such studies allow us to better understand how the Sun operates on timescales of decades and longer.
Yohkoh SXT images are the first images of soft X-ray data available on helioviewer.org. We hope you enjoy examining this different view of the Sun on helioviewer.org.
JHelioviewer 2.2.1 Released
Posted by Daniel Müller in AIA, Development, General, HMI, JHelioviewer, LASCO, Movies, Releases, Science, SDO, SOHO on April 10, 2012
A new version of JHelioviewer is available for download. What’s new? This update release contains improved movie export functionality, an updated LASCO C2 coronagraph mask, the new SDO Cutout Service plug-in plus various bug fixes.
The new movie export menu makes it easier to set the exact scaling of the area you are interested in, and the processing itself is now performed on the graphics card using OpenGL:
The SDO Cutout Service plug-in allows you to request science-quality image data from the SDO/AIA and HMI instruments for the region of interest and time range selected in JHelioviewer:
Helioviewer.org 2.3.0 Released
Posted by keith in General, Helioviewer.org, Releases on April 2, 2012
A new version of Helioviewer.org has been released including better movie customization, support for embedding Helioviewer.org in remote sites, and a number of performance and bug fixes.
Support has been added for embedding Helioviewer.org into third-party websites, and JSONP support makes it easier for new versions of the front-end to be created which interact with the main Helioviewer.org back-end. Similarly, the front-end has been rewritten to allow for easier creation of custom front-end clients without having to re-implement a tiling system, etc.
The back-end movie queuing system has been ported from Ruby to PHP to allow for better integration with the rest of the back-end, and the movies table structure has been modified for improved time estimation and similarity searching. Additional options (frame-rate and movie length) are offered to allow users further control over the movies they create and the duration option has been moved to a more obvious location.
Let us know what you think, or if you have any suggestions. Feedback is always welcome.
RELEASE NOTES:
Helioviewer.2.3.0 includes several new features to give users more control over how the site behaves. Let us know what you think, or if you have any suggestions. Feedback is always welcome.
New features:
* JSONP support
* Added option display date from last visit when returning to Helioviewer.org
* Added setting to automatically update images every 5 minutes
* Added support for embedding Helioviewer.org in other websites
* Added support for specifying frame-rate or duration during movie creation
* Added support for PROBA-2 SWAP data
* Created an installer diagnostic script
* Added support for tracking custom events in Google Analytics
* Movie and screenshot selection rectangle preserved during visit
* Data availability information included in getDateSources response
Bug fixes:
* Fixed bug #691356 JPX Summary file does not exist
* Fixed bug #783497 Port Helioqueuer to PHP
* Fixed bug #903360 Error occurs for certain layer orders when attempting to create AIA/LASCO
* Fixed bug #925542 The minimum width of the display window is too big
* Fixed bug #624857 After clicking “clear history” unfinished requests are still processed, and download links displayed
* Fixed bug #885795 Add image attribution to about dialog
* Fixed bug #888269 Attempt to normalize movie frame-rate instead of duration when possible
* Fixed bug #909795 Normalize date strings for API requests
* Fixed bug #909897 Mark movies that have not finished in less than x hours as Error
* Fixed bug #930628 Improve movie creation time estimation
* Fixed bug #942547 Validate value for dsun before attempting to process in front-side
* Fixed bug #609219 API should return an error message when an invalid parameter is specified in a request
* Fixed bug #783481 Report mouse coordinates immediately upon activation
* Fixed bug #787744 Add a checkSettings method to the UserSettings class to verify user settings integrity
* Fixed bug #876707 Included creation_time in FFmpeg metadata for mp4/webm movies
* Fixed bug #789515 Reduce filesize of WebM movies
Library updates:
* Flowplayer (3.2.7 => 3.2.8)
* jQuery (1.7.0 => 1.7.2)
* jQuery UI (1.8.16 => 1.8.18)
* jQuery.JSON (2.2 => 2.3)
* jQuery imgAreaSelect (0.9.5 => 0.9.8)
Helioviewer.org 2.2.0 Released
Posted by keith in General, Helioviewer.org, Releases on May 27, 2011
Helioviewer.org has been updated to include several new features and a number of bug fixes. Although the update is focused primarily on improving the reliability and performance, several new features have been added, and over the next 2-3 weeks you should begin to see new types of images from the STEREO mission.
Try it out! If you have any comments or suggestions, or run into any problems, report a bug or feature request.
RELEASE NOTES:
Helioviewer.org 2.2.0 is a major release including a number of stability and performance improvements, as well as a large amount of bug fixes. The main focus of this release is the recently added movie and screenshot creation capabilities. A large amount of work has been done to improve the reliability of those features, and also to pave the way for new functionality which will be added in upcoming releases and will be directed at giving users more fine-tuned control over the movie creation process.
New features:
* STEREO EUVI/COR image support (images will begin to appear online in the next 2-3 weeks!)
* WebM support
* IE9 HTML5 video support added
* YouTube video sharing support added
* New flash video player (Flowplayer)
* Improved screenshot quality
* Better mobile support (drag and drop, working sliders, etc)
* Added a data monitor page (http://www.helioviewer.org/status)
Bug fixes:
* Fixed bug #693901 Enable lookup of video properties using only its id
* Fixed bug #332020 Double-click zoom functioning incorrectly
* Fixed bug #602756 Optimize movie generation when near end of available data
* Fixed bug #662607 HTML5 Video format choice should be based on browser and not OS
* Fixed bug #662897 Avoid using compressed images during movie frame generation
* Fixed bug #692574 Generate WebM videos for each movie request
* Fixed bug #701509 Use RSUN instead of CDELT when scaling EIT images
* Fixed bug #730701 Speed up time with which shared videos appear on Helioviewer.org
* Fixed bug #735617 Store meta-information for tiles and screenshots generated by Helioviewer.org
* Fixed bug #781148 Use current time as default observation time
* Fixed bug #193782 Cursor bug in IE
* Fixed bug #609225 When attempting to use the Flash video browser, perform check for Flash support
* Fixed bug #612506 Movie pop-up menu returns NaN for older movies
* Fixed bug #621798 Use jQuery instead of Shadowbox when displaying Helioviewer.org Link
* Fixed bug #783483 IE: background image disappears in fullscreen mode
* Fixed bug #785792 When changing one field in a layer (e.g. observatory) attempt to preserve all other properties
* Fixed bug #691081 Add a “Share on Youtube” button
* Fixed bug #696346 Add metadata to generated movies
* Fixed bug #624817 Media History clear button stops working
* Fixed bug #666756 First getDataSources query after new data is added becomes very slow
* Fixed bug #605020 Helioviewer.org Movies should not include redundant frames
* Fixed bug #614001 Movie history does not disappear when creating movie
* Fixed bug #712095 Helioviewer-specific header tags not displayed in information dialog for newer images
* Fixed bug #725539 When building movies, ignore failures limited to a single frame
* Fixed bug #387365 Slider bars do not work on Safari on iPod touch
* Fixed bug #666809 Timestamp text overlaps icons on some Linux systems
* Fixed bug #669895 For movie generation failures specify whether failure occured during image creation or movie encoding
* Fixed bug #697191 High-quality video download button is cut-off on some browsers/display screens
* Fixed bug #700024 Metalinks not easily readable on large screens
* Fixed bug #704980 Suggestion for a better movie player dialog box title
* Fixed bug #376995 Make JP2 creation information available via helioviewer.org
Library updates:
* jQuery (1.4.2 => 1.6)
* jQuery imgAreaSelect (0.9.2 => 0.9.5)
* jQuery jGrowl (1.2.4 => 1.2.5)
* jQuery qTip (1.0 r54 => 2.0.0pre)
* jQuery UI (1.8 => 1.8.12)
JHelioviewer 2.1.3 is out
Posted by Daniel Müller in AIA, General, HMI, JHelioviewer, News, Releases, SDO, SOHO on February 25, 2011
The latest JHelioviewer update adds support for SDO/HMI data and features a new contrast filter, as well as an improved plugin to access the Heliophysics Event Knowledgebase (HEK).
Helioviewer.org 2.1.0 Released
Posted by keith in Helioviewer.org, Releases on December 23, 2010
Helioviewer.org has been updated to include a number of new features and bug fixes. Although many of the features included in this release have already been available online for some time now, their performance and reliability has been greatly improved during the past several weeks.
Try it out! If you have any comments or suggestions, or run into any problems, report a bug or feature request.
Stayed tuned for some exciting new features next week 
RELEASE NOTES:
Helioviewer.org 2.1.0 is a major release which includes many new features and a large number of bug fixes. Major features added include: full support for AIA images, on the fly movie and screenshot creation and a custom resource management and queuing system. Other changes include:
New features:
* Overhauled error back-end error handling
* Support for HEK FRM/Event querying
* PHP IMagick used in place of convert when available for better performance (See: http://valokuva.org/?p=40 for more information)
* Custom FFmpeg wrapper used in place of PHPVideoToolkit
* FirePHP support
* Documentation for each back-end module now handled at the module level rather than globally
* IE8 local storage support
* Conversion from tile coordinates to spatial coordinates now handled on front-end
* Removed dependencies on image archive directory structure
* Added a JHelioviewer JNLP generation method so that users can easily jump from Helioviewer.org to JHelioviewer
* Color of image layer timestamps now ranges on a scale from green (near requested time) to red (far from requested time). Absolute difference is used so that it does not matter whether actual image is ahead or behind requested one
Bug fixes:
* Fixed bug #544338 Edge effects for tiles viewed at higher magnification
* Fixed bug #605412 Helioviewer-generated Flash movies degrade in quality as the movie progresses
* Fixed bug #614558 Use of IMagick#extentImage results in images with incorrect dimensions
* Fixed bug #619944 Movie history panel occasionally stays in viewport
* Fixed bug #312205 Sandbox dimensions are too large for C2 and C3 Images
* Fixed bug #383939 Disable tiling when layer is hidden
* Fixed bug #508723 Check to see if data exists for each source, or provide option to disable a data source
* Fixed bug #605398 Improve JPX request cadence optimization for non-evenly distributed data
* Fixed bug #605411 Fullscreen, etc. button tooltips are hidden by movie/screenshot creation dialogs
* Fixed bug #608265 Chrome appends .html on movies
* Fixed bug #610456 FITS header dialog not updated when image is changed
* Fixed bug #645836 shortcuts for time steps “<” or “>” not working
* Fixed bug #535645 Add link to uncompressed JavaScript and CSS for better “view source” function
* Fixed bug #544352 backfill JP2s from SOHO mission up to most recent
* Fixed bug #322857 Sandbox dimensions do not update right away when layers are removed
* Fixed bug #415455 helioviewer logo issues/request
Library updates:
* jQuery imgAreaSelect (0.8 => 0.9.2)
* jQuery jGrowl (1.2.0 => 1.2.4)
* jQuery qTip (1.0 r34 => 1.0 r54)