![]() ![]() A space hedgehog captured by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, 30 March 2022. Here, gases escape into space as a stream of charged particles known as the solar wind, which is responsible for generating the aurora displays we see on Earth. The lighter regions in the image are mainly magnetic loops erupting from the interior of the Sun.ĭarker areas are points where the magnetic field is open. The Sun’s magnetic fields are swept up to the poles and then sucked back down into the Sun where, scientists say, they may “form the magnetic seeds for future solar activity.” Scientists are keen to learn more about what the images and data can reveal about the solar poles. The images were taken using the spacecraft’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI). One of the most incredible of the new images captured by Solar Orbiter shows the Sun’s South Pole on 30 March 2022, 4 days after perihelion. Credit: ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/EUI Team Activity at the Sun’s South Pole, captured by ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft, 30 March 2022. “Although the analysis of the new dataset has only just started, it is already clear that the ESA-led mission is providing the most extraordinary insights into the Sun’s magnetic behaviour and the way this shapes space weather,” a statement from ESA said.ĭuring the close approach, the spacecraft flew closer to the Sun than Mercury, the innermost planet, causing its heat shield to reach temperatures of about 500☌. Our Sun is currently experiencing increased activity in the form of flares, sunspots and other surface phenomena as it approaches the peak of the Solar Cycle. They reveal solar flares, views of the Sun’s solar poles and a so-called solar ‘hedgehog’. This latest batch of solar imagery was captured during the spacecraft’s ‘perihelion’ – its closest approach to the Sun in its orbit – on 26 March 2022. A view of the Sun captured by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft during perihelion, the spacecraft’s closest point to the Sun in its orbit. Launched in February 2020, Solar Orbiter’s first images were released by the European Space Agency in July 2020.įor more solar science, read our guide to the Sun and get answers to some of the biggest questions about the Sun. ![]() These amazing photos of our Sun are already revealing key insights into the workings of the star at the centre of the Solar System, but solar scientists have only just begun analysing the data Solar Orbiter reveals spectacular close-up images of our Sunīrand new images captured by the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft show the dynamic surface of the Sun in incredible detail.
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