European probe snaps first images of the sun’s south pole

One of the observations of the spacecraft, scientists discovered that magnetic fields with both northern and southern polarity are currently in the South Pole of the Sun. This magnetism is expected to only last for a short time during solar energy before the magnetic field returns.

According to ESA, when this happens, a single polarity should accumulate slowly over time as the sun moves towards the quiet sun minimum phase.

“It is still not fully understood how this accumulation took place, so the Güneş Orbiter has reached high latitudes at the right time to follow the whole process from its unique and advantageous perspective.”

Scientists have previously enjoyed the close -up images of the sun, but so far, all of them were caught around the Sun Equator by a spacecraft and observations that all rotated along a plane around the sun.

However, including Solar Orbiter’s journey in Cosmos Close Venus’s Flybys This helped the orbit of the spacecraft and allowed him to see higher latitudes than usual in the sun.

The newly released images were drawn when the sun orbit was 15 degrees below the sun equator, and a few days later, when the equator was 17 degrees below, a high enough angle to see the direct sun to see the south pole of the sun.

“We didn’t know exactly what to expect from these first observations – the poles of the sun literally Terra hidden,” He said in a statement.

Solar Orbiter was released in February 2020. The European -led mission is operated jointly with NASA.

In the coming years, Solar Orbiter’s path is expected to be further bent and brings more of the South Pole of the Sun directly. According to ESA, the best opinions may not have yet come.

Daniel Müller, a project scientist of the solar orbit of ESA, said, “This data will transform our understanding of the sun’s magnetic field, sun wind and solar activity,” he said.