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From Earth, we always look towards the Sun’s equator. This year, the ESA-led Solar Orbiter<\/u> mission broke free of this \u2018standard\u2019 viewpoint by tilting its orbit to 17\u00b0 \u2013 out of the ecliptic plane where the planets and all other Sun-watching spacecraft reside. Now for the first time ever, we can clearly see the Sun\u2019s unexplored poles.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This image shows Solar Orbiter’s view of the Sun’s south pole on 23 March 2025. It was taken by the spacecraft’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument, which captures the ultraviolet light sent out by the million-degree gas in the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the corona).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Read the full story here<\/p>\n
Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA. The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument is led by the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB).<\/i><\/p>\n
[Image description:<\/i>\u00a0Photograph of the bottom half of the Sun, with a highlighted square region around the Sun’s south pole. Taken in ultraviolet light, the image shows the hot gas in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, glowing yellow as it extends outwards in threads and loops from the Sun.]\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n