![]() In the lead-up to the close flyby, Solar Orbiter was essentially upstream of Earth and observed solar wind and coronal mass ejections that may head for Earth. Combining these insights could one day be used to help scientists forecast space weather from Earth. Each instrument is responsible for observing and recording different aspects of the sun. The spacecraft’s instruments record data from the solar wind and magnetic fields and try to trace them to their origins through the complex, magnetic environment and back to the sun. The sun's south pole was observed by the orbiter on March 30 in its highest-resolution look yet at this mysterious region. Solar Orbiter could help determine why the temperature seems to rise away from the sun’s core, rather than drop. The corona can reach a million degrees Celsius (1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit), while the surface is 5,000 degrees Celsius (9,000 degrees Fahrenheit). Space weather is created when the sun releases its stream of charged particles, called the solar wind, as well as activity by the solar magnetic fields. The Solar Orbiter mission is designed to study the sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona, and determine how the sun interacts with the heliosphere, a bubble full of charged particles released by the sun that extends beyond the planets in our solar system. “Even if Solar Orbiter stopped taking data tomorrow, I would be busy for years trying to figure all this stuff out.” “The images are really breathtaking,” said David Berghmans, principal investigator of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager instrument at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, in a statement. This puts Solar Orbiter, and another mission called Parker Solar Probe, in perfect position to watch as we head toward solar maximum. Sunspots, or dark spots on the sun, are the origin point for the explosive flares and ejection events that release light, solar material and energy into space. This activity is tracked by counting sunspots and how many are visible over time. Over the course of a solar cycle, the sun transitions from a calm period to one that is very intense and active. The current solar cycle, Solar Cycle 25, officially began in December 2019, and the next solar maximum, when the sun is experiencing peak activity, is predicted to occur in July 2025. ![]() It’s important to understand the solar cycle because space weather caused by the sun – eruptions like solar flares and coronal mass ejection events – can impact the power grid, satellites, GPS, airlines, rockets and astronauts in space.Įvery 11 years, the sun completes a solar cycle of calm and stormy activity and begins a new one. Our sun keeps flaring and these 2 missions are capturing it all The sun is getting more active, and Solar Orbiter has been watching its temper tantrums as the sun heads toward solar maximum. ![]() ![]() Scientists are just beginning to analyze the full data set captured by the orbiter’s 10 science instruments, but the insights will deepen our understanding of the sun’s behavior and how it affects space weather, which impacts Earth. The orbiter even spied a new feature nicknamed the “hedgehog.” The mission, a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency, captured views of powerful flares and coronal mass ejections and perspectives of the unexplored solar poles. Together, these keep the spacecraft from melting as it studies the sun. The spacecraft also has solar arrays that can tilt away from the worst of the heat and cooling elements in its interior. Solar Orbiter comes equipped with a multilayer heat shield, a special coating called “Solar Black” made using burnt bone and sliding doors that protect its instruments. Solar Orbiter's Extreme Ultraviolet Imager captured this view of the sun on March 27. ![]()
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