Scientists have released first images the Solar Orbiter made of the sun. The probe was launched in February by the European space agency ESA and will study the sun in the coming years. For the first time we will get a look at the poles of our mother star.
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The Solar Orbiter flew about 77 million kilometers from the Sun, which is roughly the center point between Earth and the Sun. NASA’s ‘Parker Solar Probe’ flies much closer to the sun, but too close for cameras to safely photograph the sun. The camera on the NASA probe looks away from the sun and only observes the solar wind.
That’s why the new photos from the Solar Orbiter that show the Sun so close – and from such a small scale – are so important. ‘The sun may seem calm at first glance, but when we look at the sun in detail, we see these miniature flames popping up everywhere,’ says Belgian researcher David Berghmans.
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