This viewer displays a model of the solar coronal magnetic field, which is represented by a selection of fieldlines that have been computed from the long-running PFSS model at LMSAL. Users with access to IDL and SolarSoft can access this model via the "pfss" package. General information on SolarSoft can be found at this link.

Models for each day are available from 2010 to the present. The fieldlines depicted are colored based on whether they are closed (white) or open (green or magenta, depending on polarity). The surface magnetic map is based on a flux-transport model of the solar photosphere, with magnetogram data inserted at regular intervals.

The green spot on the surface indicates the "disk center" point from the viewer's perspective, and the yellow spot on the surface signifies the "disk center" point as viewed from Earth for the date of the fieldline model.

The rendering of the coronal magnetic field model shown here can be interactively manipulated using the mouse. Users can rotate, zoom, and pan the model by respectively pressing left, middle, and right mouse buttons while moving the mouse. On touch-screen devices, the model is rotated, zoomed, and panned by swiping with one finger, pinching, or swiping with two fingers.