Spacecraft Sends Back Historic First-Ever Images Of Sun's South Pole
Launched in February 2020 to take the first-ever close-up images of the sun, the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft has sent back humanity's first clear images of the sun's south pole. 'Today we reveal humankind's first-ever views of the sun's pole,' said Professor Carole Mundell, ESA's Director of Science. 'These new unique views from our Solar Orbiter mission are the beginning of a new era of solar science.'
Caption: This collage shows Solar Orbiter's view of the Sun's south pole on 16–17 March 2025, from a ... More viewing angle of around 15° below the solar equator. This was the mission's first high-angle observation campaign, a few days before reaching its current maximum viewing angle of 17°.
The unique views of the sun were captured on March 16-17, when Solar Orbiter was orbiting the sun from 15 degrees below the solar equator, enabling it to peek at the sun's south pole for the first time.
The Solar Orbiter's three cameras provide images of the sun in visible light, ultraviolet light, and light emanating from different temperatures of charged gas above the sun's surface, revealing distinct layers of the sun's atmosphere.
One of the mission's first major discoveries is a surprisingly disordered magnetic field at the sun's south pole. Data from one of its cameras reveals that both magnetic polarities — north and south — are present in the region, an unusual state linked to the current solar maximum (the peak of the sun's 11-year solar cycle). That could help scientists figure out why the sun's magnetic field flips during solar maximum, and more accurately predict it.
The Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instrument on the ESA-led Solar Orbiter ... More spacecraft got its first good look at the Sun's south pole in March 2025.
Solar Orbiter's images represent the first-ever views of the sun from a different angle. Until now, almost all images of the sun have been taken from the same point of view on Earth or in Earth's vicinity — the ecliptic plane. If you think about the solar system as a fried egg with the sun as the yolk, all planets orbit in the white. Solar Orbiter is the first to tilt out of this zone. By March 2025, the spacecraft had achieved a 17 degrees inclination to the ecliptic, enabling direct observations of the sun's south pole. 'We didn't know what exactly to expect from these first observations – the sun's poles are literally terra incognita,' said Sami Solanki at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Germany, who works on one of Solar Orbiter's instruments.
A camera on the Solar Orbiter, called EUI, images the sun in ultraviolet light, revealing the million-degree charged gas in the sun's outer atmosphere, the corona. In April, ESA published the widest high-resolution view of the sun so far, assembled from 200 images taken by Solar Orbiter on March 9, 2025. The ultraviolet light images showed the corona. Solar scientists must learn about the corona because it's the source of the solar wind — a stream of charged particles emanating from the sun and impacting Earth — and the space weather that causes geomagnetic storms and auroras.
In February 2025, Solar Orbiter became the first Sun-watching spacecraft ever to tilt its orbit out ... More of the ecliptic plane.
Over the next several years, the Solar Orbiter will observe the sun moving toward solar minimum — the trough of the solar cycle — studying how its magnetic structure is reorganized.
The full dataset from these initial observations from Solar Orbiter's newly inclined orbit isn't expected until October 2025, but in the four years following that, solar scientists anticipate unprecedented data. 'This is just the first step of Solar Orbiter's 'stairway to heaven.' In the coming years, the spacecraft will climb further out of the ecliptic plane for ever better views of the sun's polar regions,' said Daniel Müller, ESA's Solar Orbiter project scientist. 'These data will transform our understanding of the sun's magnetic field, the solar wind, and solar activity.'
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ESA's Solar Orbiter Should Solve Mystery Of Sun's Outermost Atmosphere
ESA's Solar Orbiter mission will face the Sun from within the orbit of Mercury at its closest ... More approach. The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter mission recently stunned the world with the first-ever full images of our Sun's South pole, proving that this was going to be a mission like no other. Using an orbital gravity assist from the planet Venus, the Solar Orbiter mission spacecraft was able to maneuver into an orbit that has taken it to an angle 17 degrees below the Sun's equator. Over the coming years, the spacecraft will tilt its orbit even further, so the best views are yet to come, says ESA. The 1.2-billion-euro Solar Orbiter mission, with NASA participation, should finally help us understand the origin of the Sun's solar winds as well as our understanding of the Sun's poles. And arguably most importantly, it should solve the puzzle of why our star's outermost atmosphere, or corona, is heated to millions of degrees Kelvin and is thus so much hotter than the Sun's own surface. By contrast, our Sun's visible photosphere, or surface, averages only 5,500 degrees K. With Solar Orbiter, we are clearly seeing energy releases on the nano-flare scale, Daniel Mueller, a solar physicist and ESA project scientist for both ESA's SOHO and Solar Orbiter missions to the Sun, tells me in his office in The Netherlands. But the question is, would these nano-flares continue like that infinitely, or is there a certain lower limit to the production of these nano-flares, Mueller wonders. The puzzle is whether these nano-flares are enough to heat up the Sun's corona to the temperatures with which it is routinely measured. A Unique View Launched in 2020, from its highly elliptical orbit just inside Mercury's perihelion, the closest point in our innermost planet's solar orbit, the ESA spacecraft offers the best views yet of our own yellow dwarf star. We can see on scales down to about 200 kilometers on the Sun, which shows us a lot of dynamics of our star, says Mueller. And thanks to its newly tilted orbit around the Sun, the European Space Agency-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft is the first to image the Sun's poles from outside the ecliptic plane (the imaginary geometric plane in which our Earth orbits the Sun), says ESA. We observed the Sun's North pole at the end of this past April, says Mueller. But we passed the Southern pole first and then the Northern pole six weeks later, he says. At the moment, as seen from Earth, the Solar Orbiter is almost behind the Sun, so the data downlink has slowed to a trickle. But by early October, Mueller expects to have downloaded all the data from Solar Orbiter's Spring polar observations of the Sun. And within a matter of two to three months after the data is on the ground, the first scientific results will have been written up and submitted to journals for publication, says Mueller. These observations are also key to understanding the Sun's magnetic field and why it flips roughly every 11 years, coinciding with a peak in solar activity, says ESA. The spacecraft's instruments show that the Sun's South pole is a bit of a magnetic mess now, with both North and South polarity magnetic fields present, ESA notes. Ready To Flip Right now, there is not a clear dominant magnetic polarity, but a mix of the two, says Mueller. And that is exactly what you would expect to find during the maximum of the Sun's activity cycle, when the magnetic field is about to flip, he says. The real applications are for space weather predictions. Case in point, better space weather forecasting may have saved many of Elon Musk's 523 Starlink satellites that reentered Earth's atmosphere between 2020 and 2024. This period coincides with the rising phase of solar cycle 25, which has shown itself to be more intense than the previous solar cycle, the authors of a 2025 paper appearing in the journal Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences write. Our results indisputably show that satellites reenter faster with higher geomagnetic activity, the authors note. There was a big solar storm that caused the earth's upper Earth atmosphere to expand, so, the satellites experienced more drag, and therefore didn't make it to orbit, says Mueller. One option may have been simply to hold off on launches until this increased period of solar activity enabled a less risky geomagnetic environment in Earth's upper atmosphere. The hope is that the Solar Orbiter mission and other missions like it will lead to better and more reliable space weather predictions that could potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars in the commercial satellite industry. Solar Orbiter should do its share in solving both pure solar physics conundrums as well as in more practical applications like space weather. The good news is that the spacecraft still has plenty of fuel left. Our current funding goes until the end of 2026, but because we had a picture-perfect launch provided by United Launch Alliance and NASA, we saved a lot of fuel, says Mueller. So, the onboard fuel reserves are so large that we can keep going for a long time, he says.
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"We are proud to co-found RLT Angels. This ambitious organization will make a significant and positive impact on healthcare systems and patients, ensuring that the promise of RLT is not hindered by operational barriers. We at Novartis are dedicated to this field as an essential new pillar of Oncology and have long term plans and a deep commitment to every aspect in this area which can lead to better care" commented Dr Zsuzsanna Devecseri, Global Head, Medical Affairs Oncology, at Novartis. Dr Ben Newton, Global Head of Oncology, GE HealthCare commented: 'Theranostics is a highly innovative treatment modality that requires the seamless integration of advanced imaging, radiopharmaceuticals, digital and clinical workflows, along with operational excellence. Successful integration into everyday practice depends on close collaboration across leading healthcare providers, scientists, industry, and patient advocacy groups. 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About ICPO Foundation The International Centers for Precision Oncology Foundation (ICPO) is a nonprofit organization established in 2019 under German law by leading international medical practitioners and life sciences entrepreneurs. Recognizing a paradigm shift in cancer care from one size fits all to a personalized approach, the ICPO Foundation´s aim is to gain momentum for Radiotheranostics in cancer care worldwide and scale global patient access to this innovative therapy. About EANM The European Association of Nuclear Medicine is the largest non-profit medical organization dedicated to nuclear medicine in Europe. Since its establishment in 1985, the EANM has consistently aimed to provide an interactive platform for the sharing and discussion of cutting-edge developments in the field. The EANM collaborates with nuclear medicine professionals, national societies, EU institutions, international bodies, industry, and medical societies to leverage nuclear medicine's benefits for patient care. About GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. GE HealthCare is a trusted partner and leading global healthcare solutions provider, innovating medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics, and integrated, cloud-first AI-enabled solutions, services and data analytics. We aim to make hospitals and health systems more efficient, clinicians more effective, therapies more precise, and patients healthier and happier. Serving patients and providers for more than 125 years, GE HealthCare is advancing personalized, connected and compassionate care, while simplifying the patient's journey across care pathways About RayzeBio and Bristol Myers Squibb RayzeBio, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb Company, is a biotechnology company focused on improving outcomes for people with cancer by harnessing the power of targeted radioisotopes. Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. Sources 1. Hendifar AE, Mehr SH, McHaffie DR. Best Practices for the Coordinated Care of Patients With Neuroendocrine Tumors Undergoing Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy. Pancreas. 2022;51(3):213-218. 2. Ramnaraign B, Sartor O. PSMA-Targeted Radiopharmaceuticals in Prostate Cancer: Current Data and New Trials. Oncologist. 2023;28(5):392- 401. 3. 4. Uijen MJM, Derks YHW, Merkx RIJ, et al. PSMA radioligand therapy for solid tumors other than prostate cancer: background, opportunities, challenges, and first clinical reports. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021;48(13):4350-4368 Press photo: RLT Angels logo Media contact ICPO Foundation Susanne Simon, Head of Communication & Community Email: Website: Media contact RLT Angels AssociationsWebsite: Attachments 2025_06_21 PR ICPO Co-founded RLT Angels final RLT_Angels PhotoError in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
5 hours ago
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ICPO Foundation co-founded the RLT Angels Association with the aim of growing access to Radiotheranostics to one million patients
RLT_Angels Photo Further founding members include the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), GE HealthCare, Novartis, and RayzeBio, a Bristol Myers Squibb company. Wiesbaden, June 21, 2025 – The International Centers for Precision Oncology (ICPO) Foundation announced yesterday its role as a founding member of the RLT Angels Association together with leading organizations in the field of radiotheranostics namely the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), GE HealthCare, Novartis, and RayzeBio, a Bristol Myers Squibb company. The initiative, launched on June 20, 2025, carries the mission to improve the experience and availability of radioligand imaging (RLI) and radioligand therapies (RLT) for up to one million patients globally and expand capacity to one thousand RLT Centers. Drawing on world-leading expertise, RLT Angels aims to develop open-source best practice resources such as global blueprints and tools for process optimization to support healthcare providers. Building upon its global network of Centers of Excellence and online educational platform, the ICPO Foundation sets a standard for the RLT Angels Association with respect to the accreditation harmonization of theranostics centers and to the access and scaling of certified theranostics education. The initiative will be guided by an experienced board, including Prof. Richard P. Baum for ICPO, and supported by an independent, international Scientific Advisory Board comprised of leading clinical, economic, scientific and policy experts. The ICPO Foundation co-founding the RLT Angels Association highlights the willingness from both organizations to mutually reinforce their respective mission and sustainably grow global patient access. Thanks to strong alignment on clinical best practices, educational needs and patient outcomes, ICPO Centers of Excellence (CoE) will benefit from new resources such as medical evidence and patient advocacy, and enhance their visibility towards additional referrals and industry collaborations. The RLT Angels Association will leverage the established and active ICPO CoEs network as well as ICPO's growing educational program and global community reach out including with patient associations. Radiotheranostics utilizes diagnostic RLI and targeted RLT to identify and fight cancer, offering precise treatment that preserves healthy tissues. RLT has demonstrated benefits in clinical trials, and commercially approved therapies are available for certain neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) and prostate cancer.1,2 With approximately 225 ongoing clinical trials, use of RLI and RLT has the potential to expand to more than 15 cancer indications, significantly increasing the number of patients who could benefit from this innovative precision-based approach.3,4 Effective delivery of radiotheranostics requires seamless coordination across supply chains, radio-safety, operational, and clinical domains. As the demand for imaging and RLT treatments continues to grow, health systems must enhance their infrastructure, processes, capacity, and skills to meet this increasing need. To address these challenges and fully realize the potential of this promising treatment modality, stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem have united in a collaborative effort to form the RLT Angels Association. 'As a founding member of RLT Angels, the ICPO Foundation believes in the power of partnership and mission alignment to drive meaningful change in healthcare. By leveraging our collective expertise – including ICPO's education and accreditation resources, as well as our global community outreach – we can enhance accessibility and ensure that innovative therapies reach those who need them most,' said Prof. Richard P. Baum, Trustee of the ICPO Foundation and President of the ICPO Academy for Theranostics. A 'Center Recognition Program' will enable RLT Centers to measure their efficiency and quality of care. Additionally, RLT Angels will provide virtual support and online expert forums to help centers efficiently leverage these resources. The program will support centers to reach accreditation levels as defined by national and international medical societies, as well as by international non-profit organizations pursuing accreditation efforts. RLT Angels will enable standardized data collection to support evidence generation and advocacy initiatives to engage policy stakeholders and the broader public. 'The formation of RLT Angels Association marks a significant milestone in the evolution of Radioligand Therapy. Our commitment to collaboration will help bridge gaps in care and foster a community dedicated to improving patient outcomes through innovative practices.' said Prof. Paola Anna Erba, president of EANM. Ben Hickey, president of RayzeBio, commented: 'RLT Angels represents an important multidisciplinary effort bringing together diverse expertise to address the challenges in delivering Radioligand or Radiopharmaceutical Therapy, and ensuring the full potential of this promising modality can be realized. We believe our collective efforts will pave the way for a more seamless treatment experience, increased operational efficiency and most importantly, improved clinical outcomes for patients.' "We are proud to co-found RLT Angels. This ambitious organization will make a significant and positive impact on healthcare systems and patients, ensuring that the promise of RLT is not hindered by operational barriers. We at Novartis are dedicated to this field as an essential new pillar of Oncology and have long term plans and a deep commitment to every aspect in this area which can lead to better care" commented Dr Zsuzsanna Devecseri, Global Head, Medical Affairs Oncology, at Novartis. Dr Ben Newton, Global Head of Oncology, GE HealthCare commented: 'Theranostics is a highly innovative treatment modality that requires the seamless integration of advanced imaging, radiopharmaceuticals, digital and clinical workflows, along with operational excellence. Successful integration into everyday practice depends on close collaboration across leading healthcare providers, scientists, industry, and patient advocacy groups. We are proud to be a founding member of RLT Angels and to contribute to this collective effort to advance global access to RLT and improve outcomes for patients across the globe.' To learn more about the RLT Angels Association and explore opportunities for involvement, please visit the website at or our LinkedIn page. RLT Angels is seeking like-minded partners dedicated to enhancing patient care and improving access to radiotheranostics. About RLT Angels RLT Angels is a non-profit organization dedicated to maximizing patient access to radiotheranostics, systematically expanding health system capacity to deliver radioligand imaging (RLI) and radioligand therapies (RLT), and improving the experience and outcomes for patients receiving this treatment globally. Our objective is to deliver on the promise of the treatment modality and maximize patient access. About ICPO Foundation The International Centers for Precision Oncology Foundation (ICPO) is a nonprofit organization established in 2019 under German law by leading international medical practitioners and life sciences entrepreneurs. Recognizing a paradigm shift in cancer care from one size fits all to a personalized approach, the ICPO Foundation´s aim is to gain momentum for Radiotheranostics in cancer care worldwide and scale global patient access to this innovative therapy. About EANM The European Association of Nuclear Medicine is the largest non-profit medical organization dedicated to nuclear medicine in Europe. Since its establishment in 1985, the EANM has consistently aimed to provide an interactive platform for the sharing and discussion of cutting-edge developments in the field. The EANM collaborates with nuclear medicine professionals, national societies, EU institutions, international bodies, industry, and medical societies to leverage nuclear medicine's benefits for patient care. About GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. GE HealthCare is a trusted partner and leading global healthcare solutions provider, innovating medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics, and integrated, cloud-first AI-enabled solutions, services and data analytics. We aim to make hospitals and health systems more efficient, clinicians more effective, therapies more precise, and patients healthier and happier. Serving patients and providers for more than 125 years, GE HealthCare is advancing personalized, connected and compassionate care, while simplifying the patient's journey across care pathways About RayzeBio and Bristol Myers Squibb RayzeBio, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb Company, is a biotechnology company focused on improving outcomes for people with cancer by harnessing the power of targeted radioisotopes. Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. Sources 1. Hendifar AE, Mehr SH, McHaffie DR. Best Practices for the Coordinated Care of Patients With Neuroendocrine Tumors Undergoing Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy. Pancreas. 2022;51(3):213-218. 2. Ramnaraign B, Sartor O. PSMA-Targeted Radiopharmaceuticals in Prostate Cancer: Current Data and New Trials. Oncologist. 2023;28(5):392- 401. 3. 4. Uijen MJM, Derks YHW, Merkx RIJ, et al. PSMA radioligand therapy for solid tumors other than prostate cancer: background, opportunities, challenges, and first clinical reports. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging. 2021;48(13):4350-4368 Press photo: RLT Angels logo Media contact ICPO Foundation Susanne Simon, Head of Communication & Community Email: Website: Media contact RLT Angels AssociationsWebsite: Attachments 2025_06_21 PR ICPO Co-founded RLT Angels final RLT_Angels Photo
