Solar Orbiter spacecraft obtains first images of the sun's poles

11 June 2025 18:13
(REUTERS)The robotic Solar Orbiter spacecraft has obtained the first images ever taken of our sun's two poles as scientists seek a deeper understanding of Earth's host star, including its magnetic field, its 11-year cycle of activity and the solar wind.The European Space Agency on Wednesday released images taken in March using three of Solar Orbiter's onboard instruments. They show the sun's south pole from a distance of roughly 40 million miles (65 million km), obtained at a period of maximum solar activity. Images of the north pole are still being transmitted by the spacecraft back to Earth.Solar Orbiter, developed by ESA in collaboration with the U.S. space agency NASA, was launched in 2020 from Florida.Until now, all the views of the sun have come from the same vantage point - looking face-on toward its equator from the plane on which Earth and most of the solar system's other planets orbit, called the ecliptic plane.Solar Orbiter used a slingshot flyby around Venus in February to get out of this plane to view the sun from up to 17 degrees below the solar equator. Future slingshot flybys will provide an even better view, at beyond 30 degrees."The best is still to come. What we have seen is just a first quick peek," said solar physicist Sami Solanki of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, who heads the scientific team for the spacecraft's Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager instrument."The spacecraft observed both poles, first the south pole, then the north pole," Solanki said. "The north pole's data will arrive in the coming weeks or months."Solar Orbiter is gathering data on phenomena including the sun's magnetic field, its activity cycle, and the solar wind, a relentless high-speed flow of charged particles emanating from the sun's outermost atmospheric layer that fills interplanetary space."We are not sure what we will find, and it is likely we will see things that we didn't know about before," said solar physicist Hamish Reid of University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UK co-principal investigator of Solar Orbiter's Extreme Ultraviolet Imager instrument.The sun is a ball of hot electrically charged gas that, as it moves, generates a powerful magnetic field, which flips from south to north and back again every 11 years in what is called the solar cycle.The magnetic field drives the formation of sunspots, cooler regions on the solar surface that appear as dark blotches. At the cycle's beginning, the sun has fewer sunspots. Their number increases as the cycle progresses, before starting all over again."What we have been missing to really understand this (solar cycle) is what is actually happening at the top and bottom of the sun," Reid said.The sun's diameter is about 865,000 miles (1.4 million km), more than 100 times wider than Earth."Whilst the Earth has a clear north and south pole, the Solar Orbiter measurements show both north and south polarity magnetic fields are currently present at the south pole of the sun. This happens during the maximum in activity of the solar cycle, when the sun's magnetic field is about to flip. In the coming years, the sun will reach solar minimum, and we expect to see a more orderly magnetic field around the poles of the sun," Reid said."We see in the images and movies of the polar regions that the sun's magnetic field is chaotic at the poles at the (current) phase of the solar cycle - high solar activity, cycle maximum," Solanki said.The sun is located about 93 million miles (149 million km) from our planet."The data that Solar Orbiter obtains during the coming years will help modelers in predicting the solar cycle. This is important for us on Earth because the sun's activity causes solar flares and coronal mass ejections which can result in radio communication blackouts, destabilise our power grids, but also drive the sensational auroras," Reid said."Solar Orbiter's new vantage point out of the ecliptic will also allow us to get a better picture of how the solar wind expands to form the heliosphere, a vast bubble around the sun and its planets," Reid added.A previous spacecraft, Ulysses, flew over the solar poles in the 1990s.
"Ulysses, however, was blind in the sense that it did not carry any optical instruments - telescopes or cameras - and hence could only sense the solar wind passing the spacecraft directly, but could not image the sun," Solanki said.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Arabian Business

2 days ago

• Arabian Business

European space ambitions need Gulf partners

I f Europe wants to stand on its own two feet, it must look up – literally. Space, once associated only with exploration – or, more cynically – national vanity projects, has become crucial to the economic health, security, and soft power of any government, national or regional. That's one reason why Josef Aschbacher, head of the European Space Agency, has called for more investment in the sector. Europe, he argues, cannot afford to lag behind. The ambition to be 'strategically autonomous' and shape its own future depends on catching up in an area where other powers, the U.S. and China most notably, are pulling ahead. Space technology, it's crucial to note, is not just about satellites and rockets even though culturally, that's often what comes to mind when people think about it. This perception has been strengthened by Elon Musk's SpaceX, which communicates aggressively around its many launches. Space in fact touches everything from military equipment and weapons to communications infrastructure to environmental monitoring and supply chain efficiency. A recent study published by the World Economic Forum and McKinsey underscored how 'space-based technologies are revolutionising the supply chain, transportation, and mobility sectors, positioning them as the fastest-growing segment of the global space economy.' In these areas, Europe has some of the world's best engineers. But it consistently fails to support the companies where they work with meaningful investment. Compare this situation with that of the Middle East. The Gulf region has become a surprising contender in the new space race. The UAE and Saudi Arabia, once absent from this arena, are now outspending many of their Western counterparts and making rapid progress. In just over a decade, they have poured $25 billion into the field, and that is expected to grow to $75 billion by 2032. First, national security remains essential. Secondly, they need to plan for the post-oil era. The Gulf economies rely heavily on oil, and they will be in deep trouble if they do not diversify their economies. Thirdly, they need to prepare the labour market for the twin challenges of automation and climate change. They are also closely aligned with strategic initiatives: AI, autonomous systems. Space covers all of these. It promises robust security, long-time prosperity, and future-proof jobs, as well as national prestige and the tools to adapt to an uncertain world. But the Middle East and Europe need not see themselves as rivals. The Gulf states are actively looking for partners; they want to develop their space infrastructure further. They are becoming global hubs of innovation. And Europe, with its highly skilled, highly educated workforce and depth in advanced technology, should be an obvious ally in this undertaking. A paradigm shift is underway: those countries that fail to see how much more the Middle East is than a source of capital will fall far behind. Europe would benefit from the support. It has many promising space companies developing world-beating dual-use technologies. With more funding and backing, they could scale rapidly: ICEYE, one of Europe's most exciting space companies, has benefitted hugely from its presence in the Gulf. Growing fast would stop lesser companies in other nations from appearing, gaining more funding, and out-scaling them. In the United States, small, innovative companies have long been seen as the key to remaining at the forefront of innovation, and those companies receive generous funding for that reason. In Europe, procurement processes badly need rethinking, and there is still some hesitation around investing in defence, which often overlaps with space. There was a time when the Middle East was viewed (wrongly, even then) as a source of oil money and little else. That has changed: it is now widely viewed as a genuine industrial power, as well as a large and growing market and a vital bridge and trading point between East and West. If Europe were to collaborate with the United Arab Emirates, it could get much more than funding. The Gulf is vast, with open landscapes and a climate perfectly suited for the testing of advanced, satellite-based tech. Europe is densely packed and its regulations are stringent. The Gulf, for its part, would gain European know-how, which would accelerate its development in space. Jobs, knowledge transfer and commercial opportunities would also follow. So a strong Europe–Middle East alliance in space would serve both sides: creating economic opportunities, reducing dependency on unpredictable allies, and developing infrastructure that will define the next century. It's a win-win. The Middle East is ready and waiting. It has shown that it's looking ahead to the future, and it is eager to join hands with countries and regions for mutual advantage: the slew of multibillion-dollar U.S. tech deals struck by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar shows that. Europe, which for a long time has relied on others, and has been able to invest in its social infrastructure due to the promise of U.S. military support, badly needs to work with other countries to ensure its security and the quality of life of its citizens. It should act now. The clock is ticking.

The National

5 days ago

• The National

Artificial solar eclipse created by European space mission to unlock Sun's mysteries

Scientists can take a longer, clearer look at the Sun's outer atmosphere thanks to a European mission that created the first artificial solar eclipse in space. The feat was made possible by the European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission, which involved two spacecraft flying in perfect formation more than 600km above Earth. The pair lined up to block out the bright disc of the Sun and reveal its faint outer atmosphere, called the corona, creating an artificial eclipse. Striking composite images were released on Monday by the space agency. Dr Dimitra Atri, principal investigator at the New York University Abu Dhabi's Space Exploration Laboratory, said the achievement amounted to a breakthrough in solar science. 'It will help us tackle one of the field's biggest puzzles: why the Sun's corona burns hundreds of times hotter than its surface,' Dr Atri, was not involved in the research, told The National. He said researchers would now be able to study the corona for hours at a time by creating the much longer artificial solar eclipses. 'This gives us an opportunity to study the turbulent processes that fuel space weather,' he said. The surface of the Sun reaches about 5,500°C, while the corona can reach more than a million degrees. Current theories suggest the extreme heat could be caused by the Sun's magnetic fields and waves of charged particles, but this could be challenged with Proba-3's feat. To make the eclipse appear, the two satellites flew in a carefully controlled formation, maintaining a fixed distance of 144 metres while orbiting Earth. One satellite blocked the Sun's light while the other captured images of the exposed corona. This required millimetre-level precision to align perfectly, said the European Space Agency. Studying the Sun's secrets During a natural eclipse, scientists have only a few minutes to view and photograph the corona. This region is where violent solar activity originates, including flares and coronal mass ejections that can damage satellites, disrupt navigation systems and cause power cuts on Earth. 'The mission will dramatically improve our ability to forecast solar storms that threaten satellites and electrical grids, while deepening our knowledge of how stars function across the universe,' said Dr Atri. 'The engineering feat of keeping two spacecraft flying in precise formation also opens new doors for future more complex missions.' Six-hour eclipse Andrei Zhukov, from the Royal Observatory of Belgium, who was part of the research, said he was thrilled to see the images as they secured them in the first attempt. 'Our artificial eclipse images are comparable with those taken during a natural eclipse,' he said in a statement. 'The difference is that we can create our eclipse once every 19.6-hour orbit, while total solar eclipses only occur naturally around once, very rarely twice, a year. 'On top of that, natural total eclipses only last a few minutes, while Proba-3 can hold its artificial eclipse for up to six hours.'

Al Etihad

5 days ago

• Al Etihad

American startup develops plastic-eating fungi diapers to tackle landfill waste

17 June 2025 00:20 AUSTIN (REUTERS)Could baby poop and fungi work together to tackle landfill waste? That's the idea behind a new product launched by an Austin, Texas-based startup that sells disposable diapers paired with fungi intended to break down the of Hiro Technologies' MycoDigestible Diapers comes with a packet of fungi to be added to the dirty diaper before it is thrown in the trash. After a week or two, the fungi are activated by moisture from feces, urine and the environment to begin the process of diapers contribute significantly to landfill waste. An estimated 4 million tons of diapers were disposed of in the United States in 2018, with no significant recycling or composting, according to the Environmental Protection take hundreds of years to naturally break down. That means the very first disposable diaper ever used is still in a landfill tackle this, Hiro Technologies turned to fungi. These organisms - which include mushrooms, molds, yeasts and mildew - derive nutrients from decomposing organic 2011, Yale University researchers discovered a type of fungus in Ecuador that can feed on polyurethane, a common polymer in plastic products. They figured the fungus, Pestalotiopsis microspora, would be capable of surviving on plastic in environments lacking oxygen, like Technologies co-founder Tero Isokauppila, a Finnish entrepreneur who also founded medicinal mushroom company Four Sigmatic, said there are more than 100 species of fungi now known to break down plastics."Many, many moons ago, fungi evolved to break down trees, especially this hard-to-break-down compound in trees called lignin. ... Its carbon backbone is very similar to the carbon backbone of plastics because essentially they're made out of the same thing," Isokauppila sealed jars at Hiro Technologies' lab show the stages of decomposition of a treated diaper over time. By nine months, the product appears as black soil - "just digested plastic and essentially earth," Isokauppila company says it needs to do more research to find out how the product will decompose in real-world conditions in different climates and hopes to have the data to make a "consumer-facing claim" by next also plans to experiment with plastic-eating fungi on adult diapers, feminine care products and other now, it is selling "diaper bundles" for $35 a week online. Co-founder Miki Agrawal, who was also behind period underwear company Thinx, said the MycoDigestible Diapers had been generating excitement from consumers and investors since launching about a month ago, declining to give said the company had chosen to focus on diapers as the top household plastic waste item. "There is a deleterious lasting effect that we haven't really thought about and considered," Agrawal said. "Because when you throw something away, no one's asking themselves, 'Where's away?'"