The European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Solar Orbiter is out of alignment with the rest of the Solar System. And that’s a good thing. By orbiting the Sun outside of the Solar System’s orbital plane, the spacecraft has captured the first clear images of the Sun’s south pole. According to the ESA, these observations (and other observations to come) will provide important insights into the Sun and its activity, with implications for the whole solar system.
“Today we reveal humankind’s first-ever views of the Sun’s pole,” said Carole Mundell, the director of science for the ESA, in a press release. “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 ...
