sun's south pole by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA's Solar Orbiter mission marks a significant milestone in solar research. Captured during a maneuver that enabled the spacecraft to exit the solar system’s ecliptic, these images provide an unprecedented view of areas previously obscured from observation. The Solar Orbiter, launched in February 2020 and operational since November 2021, has now transitioned into its critical phase of studying solar poles, which are vital for understanding solar dynamics and magnetic activity .
 Solar Orbiter spacecraft and released Wednesday by the European Space Agency, offer fresh insights into the sun’s behavior, its magnetic field and how it produces space weather.
“The sun is our nearest star, giver of life and potential disruptor of modern space and ground power systems, so it is imperative that we understand how it works and learn to predict its behaviour,” Carole Mundell, director of science at the European Space Agency (ESA), said in a statement. “These new unique views from our Solar Orbiter mission are the beginning of a new era of solar science.”
Mathew Owens, a space physicist at the University of Reading in England, who added that it has been difficult to work out what is happening at the poles and how they differ from other regions of the star.
By studying its polar extremes, scientists hope to gain new insights into the sun and how it behaves.
And the best is yet to come — later this year, humans will get our first images of the sun’s north pole from Solar Orbiter, before the spacecraft swoops ever higher and lower above the sun’s poles for even better views.
According to Prof Lucie Green of UCL, it has been hard to predict this activity with computer models of the Sun because there has been no data on the migration of the magnetic fields towards the poles. But that has now changed
These newly acquired images reveal complex magnetic structures and turbulent activity at the sun's south pole. This is particularly important as the sun approaches its solar maximum—a period characterized by heightened magnetic activity and frequent solar flares . By analyzing these high-latitude views, scientists aim to enhance their understanding of the sun’s magnetic field and improve predictions regarding space weather events that can impact Earth. The findings underscore the importance of advanced observational technology in expanding our knowledge of celestial phenomena.
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