The European Space Agency has released a new video showcasing close-up views of the sun’s corona, captured by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. The video reveals the sun’s outer atmosphere, with hair-like strands of plasma creating a visually stunning and ever-changing landscape. The brightest areas of the sun reach temperatures of around 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit, while darker areas are cooler. The video also showcases various solar features such as coronal moss, spicules, and coronal rain, providing a unique and detailed look at the sun’s activity.
Solar Orbiter, a spacecraft designed specifically for capturing images of the sun, utilizes the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager to provide both wide-angle views and close-up shots of the sun’s atmosphere. The video was taken in late 2023 when Solar Orbiter was closer to the sun, capturing unprecedented and detailed footage of solar events. The spacecraft launched in early 2020 and began its science operations in late 2021, embarking on a mission to explore the sun’s polar regions and understand its cycles, atmosphere, corona, and solar wind.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is another spacecraft dedicated to studying the sun and the solar wind. Parker Solar Probe works in conjunction with Solar Orbiter to measure and track the solar wind as it expands through the solar system. Understanding the processes that drive the solar wind is crucial for mitigating potential impacts on Earth, such as radiation exposure to astronauts, interference with satellite electronics, and disruptions to communication signals like GPS and radio waves. By studying the sun’s activity and solar wind, researchers hope to better predict and address these potential effects.
The collaborative efforts of Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe have provided valuable insights into the workings of the sun and its impact on the solar system. Solar Orbiter’s close-up views of the active corona region offer a different perspective from the static ball of light visible from Earth through eclipse glasses. The detailed footage captured by Solar Orbiter has unveiled the dynamic and intricate nature of the sun’s outer atmosphere, shedding light on phenomena such as coronal moss, spicules, and coronal rain.
The images and data collected by Solar Orbiter are essential for advancing our understanding of the sun’s behavior and its influence on space weather. By studying solar phenomena up close, scientists can enhance their knowledge of solar cycles, atmospheric processes, and the mechanisms behind the solar wind. The groundbreaking footage from Solar Orbiter provides an unprecedented glimpse into the inner workings of our nearest star, offering valuable insights that can help improve our ability to predict and mitigate potential impacts of solar activity on Earth and space-based technologies.
The video captured by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft showcases the sun’s corona in exquisite detail, highlighting the complex and dynamic nature of our nearest star. By revealing the intricate patterns of plasma, the bright gas formations, and the phenomena like coronal moss and spicules, Solar Orbiter offers a new perspective on the sun’s outer atmosphere. Working in partnership with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter is leading the way in solar exploration, providing essential data to deepen our understanding of the sun’s behavior and its impact on the solar system.
