The Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instrument on the ESA-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft got its first good look at the Sun’s south pole in March 2025.
Here we see SPICE’s velocity map of charged carbon particles (ions) at the Sun’s south pole. These ions live in the transition region, a thin layer around the Sun where the temperature rapidly increases from around 10 000 °C to hundreds of thousands of degrees. (Click here to see a comparison to SPICE’s intensity map.)
Blue and red indicate how fast the carbon ions are moving towards and away from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, respectively. Darker blue and red patches are related to plasma flowing faster due to small plumes or jets.
The data shown here were recorded on 22–23 March 2025, when Solar Orbiter was facing the Sun from an angle of 17° below the solar equator. The image is composed of three observations that were subsequently stitched together.
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Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA. 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 image is a velocity map of the Sun’s south pole, captured by Solar Orbiter’s SPICE instrument. The map is filled with red and blue colours, which represent motion. Red areas show material moving away from the observer, while blue areas show material moving toward the observer. The background is black, making the coloured regions stand out clearly. Curved lines and a faint grid overlay the image, indicating lines of solar latitude and longitude. A label in the bottom right corner notes that the data was taken in ultraviolet light at a temperature of 32 000 °C.]