The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft recently provided a mesmerizing close-up view of the sun’s corona, showcasing some unique features of our closest star. The stunning video captured by the Solar Orbiter reveals the corona, the sun’s outer atmosphere, in all its glory.
The video displays intricate hair-like strands of plasma, giving the corona a ‘fluffy’ appearance, as described by ESA. This ever-changing landscape of the sun displays areas of intense heat, reaching temperatures of approximately 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit, contrasted by cooler, darker regions.
ESA highlighted various solar features and events in the video, including coronal moss, spicules, and coronal rain. The coronal moss presents delicate, lace-like patterns across the sun, while spicules are spikes of gas extending from the sun’s atmosphere. An eruption, larger than Earth itself, is also visible in the video, alongside coronal rain, which consists of denser plasma clumps falling back towards the sun under gravity’s pull.
Unlike ordinary cameras, Solar Orbiter utilizes the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager, a specialized instrument enabling it to capture these remarkable close-ups of the sun’s atmosphere. The spacecraft, launched in early 2020, commenced its scientific operations in late 2021, aiming to capture unprecedented images of the sun and explore its mysterious polar regions.
Working in conjunction with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter is shedding light on the sun’s cycles, atmosphere, corona, and solar wind. Both spacecraft are dedicated to studying the solar wind, with Parker Solar Probe even venturing through the sun’s corona in 2021.
The collaborative efforts of Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe are enhancing our understanding of the sun and its continuous stream of particles emanating into space. These missions are crucial in unraveling the mysteries of our star and its impact on our solar system.
