ESA Orbiter beams first-ever visuals of Sun's 'messy' south pole during pole-to-pole trip

Humans just got their first look at the Sun's poles. The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter captured unprecedented visuals of Earth's star. This is the first time that we have seen a photo and video of the Sun that is not from its equatorial region.

The reason why we have never before captured such an image of the sun is that Earth, other planets of the solar system, and all other operational spacecraft orbit the Sun within a flat disc called the ecliptic plane. The ESA orbiter tilted its orbit to move out of this plane, from where it saw the Sun in a whole new light, and at a new angle.

“Today we reveal humankind’s first-ever views of the Sun’s pole,” Prof. Carole Mundell, ESA's Director of Science, said.

“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. These new, unique views from our Solar Orbiter mission are the beginning of a new era of solar science.”

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The iconic photos were taken between March 16 and 17 this year with the Solar Orbiter's Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI), Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), and Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instruments.

ESA Orbiter snaps high-angle images of Sun for first time

For the first time, the solar orbiter snapped the sun at a high angle, from 15 degrees below the solar equator. The orbiter is pushing further and later reached a maximum viewing angle of 17 degrees. Its latest mission - perform its first "pole-to-pole" orbit of our star.

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Scientists say the best views of the Sun are yet to come as the orbiter moves forward with its journey around the Sun's poles, tilting its orbit even more.

"These first images of the solar poles are just the start. Over the next few years, there is scope for discovery science," Hamish Reid of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London (UCL) told Space.com.

"We are not sure what we will find, and it is likely we will see things that we didn't know about before."

Why Sun's magnetic field flips every 11 years

Scientists think that the new observations will help them learn more about the sun, including its magnetic field and why it flips roughly every 11 years. Right now, the sun is at peak activity, releasing solar flares and plasma into space.

ESA stated that the images show that the Sun’s magnetic field is currently a mess. Instead of having a clear north and south pole, its south pole has both north and south polarity magnetic fields. "This happens only for a short time during each solar cycle, at solar maximum, when the Sun’s magnetic field flips and is at its most active," the ESA said.

After this happens, a single polarity will gradually build at the Sun's poles.