This collage shows Solar Orbiter’s view of the Sun’s south pole on 16–17 March 2025, from a viewing angle of around 15° below the solar equator. This was the mission’s first high-angle observation campaign, a few days before reaching its current maximum viewing angle of 17°.
Until now, spacecraft (and ground-based telescopes) have never been able to clearly see the Sun’s poles, because none ever reached further than 7° from the Sun’s equator. (The ESA/NASA Ulysses mission (1990–2009) flew over the Sun’s poles but did not carry any imaging instruments.)
These data were recorded by three of Solar Orbiter’s scientific instruments: the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI), the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), and the Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instrument. The instruments each observe the Sun in a different way.
PHI captures the visible light sent out by iron particles (617.3 nanometre wavelength, top left), revealing the Sun’s surface (photosphere). PHI also maps the Sun’s surface magnetic field along the spacecraft’s line of sight (top centre). In this map, blue indicates positive magnetic field, pointing towards the spacecraft, and red indicates negative magnetic field.
EUI images the Sun in ultraviolet light (17.4 nanometre wavelength, top right), revealing the million-degree charged gas in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona. This high-energy light is sent out by charged iron particles.
The SPICE instrument (various wavelengths, bottom row) captures light coming from different layers above the Sun’s surface, from the chromosphere right above the Sun’s surface all the way to the Sun’s corona. Each image captured by SPICE shows different temperatures of charged gas, at 10 000 °C, 32 000 °C, 320 000 °C, 630 000 °C and 1 000 000 °C.
By comparing and analysing the complementary observations made by these three imaging instruments, we can learn about how material moves in the Sun’s outer layers. This may reveal unexpected patterns, such as polar vortices (swirling gas) similar to those seen around the poles of Venus and Saturn.
These groundbreaking new observations are also key to understanding the Sun’s magnetic field and why it flips roughly every 11 years, coinciding with a peak in solar activity. Current models and predictions of the 11-year solar cycle fall short of being able to predict exactly when and how powerfully the Sun will reach its most active state.
Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA. Solar Orbiter’s Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) instrument is led by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), Germany. The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument is led by the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB). The Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instrument is a European-led facility instrument, led by the Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS) in Paris, France.
[Image description: This composite image from the ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission showcases the Sun observed across eight different wavelengths, each revealing distinct layers and temperatures of the solar atmosphere. The top row presents the Sun’s photosphere in visible light, a magnetic field map, and the corona in extreme ultraviolet. The bottom row spans ultraviolet observations from 10000 °C to over 1.2 million °C, highlighting emissions from hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, neon, and magnesium. These multi-wavelength views help scientists understand the Sun’s complex structure and dynamic behaviour across its outer layers.]