All images you have ever seen of the Sun were taken from near the Sun’s equator, from within the ecliptic plane where all planets and nearly all spacecraft orbit the Sun. In February 2025, Solar Orbiter became the first Sun-watching spacecraft ever to tilt its orbit out of the ecliptic plane.
In June 2025, the ESA-led mission to provided humanity with the first-ever clear views of the Sun’s south pole. All ten of Solar Orbiter’s scientific instruments will collect unprecedented data in the years to come.
As we’ve never clearly seen the poles before, Solar Orbiter may uncover unexpected structures or movements, including polar vortices (swirling gas) similar to those seen around the poles of Venus and Saturn. Additionally, more of the Sun’s magnetic field at the poles opens up to space, and Solar Orbiter will be able to see how this changes throughout the solar cycle.
Solar Orbiter’s groundbreaking high-latitude observations are 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.
Additionally, particle and magnetic field detectors on the spacecraft will be the first to track the movement of solar material – including solar wind, bursts of charged particles called coronal mass ejections, and particles moving close to the speed of light – away from the Sun’s equator. This can inform and improve space weather forecasts, important for reducing its impact on Earth.
Finally, measurements of the Sun’s magnetic field at higher latitudes allow Solar Orbiter to map more of the Sun’s global magnetic field as it changes throughout the solar cycle. While the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) instrument can measure local magnetic fields at the Sun’s surface, Solar Orbiter’s magnetometer (MAG) instrument measures the magnetic field near the spacecraft. The latter can reveal the large-scale structure of the Sun’s magnetic field.
Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA.
[Image description: This infographic by the European Space Agency, titled ”Why Solar Orbiter is Angling Towards the Sun’s Poles”, illustrates the mission’s unique trajectory and scientific goals. At the centre of the image, the Sun is shown with dynamic magnetic field lines, emphasizing polar activity. To the left, the Solar Orbiter spacecraft is depicted with its orbital path marked for 2025 and 2028, showing how it gradually tilts to observe the Sun’s poles. The top right explains the solar dynamo mechanism, while the bottom right highlights the role of polar observations in understanding space weather and the Sun’s global magnetic field.]