US EditionSolar Orbiter Captures First Images of Sun's South Pole
- In March 2025, the Solar Orbiter spacecraft—a collaborative mission between ESA and NASA launched in February 2020—achieved a vantage point 17 degrees below the ecliptic plane, allowing it to obtain humanity’s first detailed views of the Sun’s southern polar region.
- The spacecraft gradually tilted its orbit over five years until it reached an angle that allowed views of the previously unseen solar poles, a region critical for understanding solar activity and space weather.
- The Solar Orbiter used instruments like PHI, EUI, and SPICE to measure magnetic fields, ultraviolet emissions, and solar wind particles at the south pole, revealing a complex magnetic environment with mixed polarities.
- ESA's Director of Science, Carole Mundell, announced that for the first time ever, humanity has obtained direct observations of the Sun's polar regions, which will improve models forecasting the solar cycle and space weather effects on Earth.
- These unprecedented observations mark a new era in solar science by filling missing data on polar magnetic fields, which should improve forecasts of solar storms that affect satellites and power grids on Earth.
145 Articles
145 Articles
Magnetic mayhem at the sun’s poles: First images reveal a fiery mystery
For the first time in history, we re seeing the Sun from an angle no one ever has: from above and below its poles. Thanks to the European Space Agency s Solar Orbiter and its tilted orbit, scientists have captured groundbreaking images and data that are unlocking mysteries about the Sun s magnetic field, its puzzling 11-year cycle, and the powerful solar wind. Instruments aboard the spacecraft are already revealing strange, chaotic magnetic beha…
The European Space Agency (ESA)'s Solar Orbiter spacecraft handed over to Earth the first photographs and videos of our star's southern pole in history.
It is a feat carried out several tens of millions of kilometers from the Earth. Solar Orbiter, the ESA probe, the European Space Agency, took the first photograph of the south pole of our star. The Sun, which had been studied for decades, had never been photographed from this angle. However, the study of this region is necessary to better understand the functioning of the Sun and the consequences for the Earth of its activity.
The sun's poles have flipped. A spacecraft is watching what happens next.
A spacecraft just got the first look at the bottom of the sun, and what it saw was a hot mess — literally. Our host star, about 93 million miles away in space, is in utter turmoil right now, having just reached peak chaos in its solar cycle. Similar to storm seasons on Earth, the sun experiences a weather pattern that repeats every 11 years. At the beginning and end of this stretch, flares and sunspots calm down. But solar activity rises before …
Astronomers Just Took the First-Ever Picture of the Bottom of the Sun
Astronomers have gotten an unprecedented view of the bottom of the Sun. On Wednesday, the European Space Agency shared images that show, in all its tumultuous glory, our star's secretive south pole. Captured by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, the stunning achievement has paved the way towards solving some of the Sun's most abiding mysteries, and could even provide us the insight needed to predict some of the star's volatile behavior that can disr…
Solar Orbiter sends back first live observations from the Sun's south pole
The Solar Orbiter (SolO) recently captured the first direct observations of the Sun's south pole – a region long shrouded in mystery. These unprecedented glimpses are crucial to understanding the star's inner workings and, according to the European Space Agency, may help scientists better predict solar activity in the future.Read Entire Article
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