ESA’s Solar Orbiter captures the first-ever images and video of the Sun’s south pole, providing crucial insights into solar cycles, magnetic fields, and space weather.
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| ESA’s Solar Orbiter has delivered humanity’s first images of the Sun’s south pole, revealing magnetic flows essential to understanding and predicting solar storms. Image: ESA |
PARIS, France — June 12, 2025:
In a milestone for solar science, the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter has captured the first-ever video and images of the Sun’s elusive south pole, revealing dynamic atmospheric structures and magnetic flows critical to understanding space weather and solar cycles, according to an ESA statement.
The spectacular footage shows swirling plasma in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, which glows at temperatures nearing one million degrees Celsius. Interwoven are cooler, darker gas formations still reaching a staggering 100,000 degrees, highlighting the Sun’s volatile complexity. These high-resolution visuals offer a new frontier in solar observation.
“Today we reveal humankind’s first-ever views of the Sun’s pole,” said Prof. Carole Mundell, ESA’s Director of Science. “Understanding the Sun’s behavior is no longer just about science—it’s about protecting global infrastructure reliant on satellites and electricity.”
The Sun undergoes an 11-year magnetic cycle, during which its north and south poles flip. These cycles influence solar storms, which can disrupt communication networks, GPS systems, and even knock out power grids on Earth. Until now, the polar regions—key to this cycle—remained mostly hidden from scientists.
“This is the missing piece of the solar puzzle,” said Prof. Lucie Green of University College London. “We can now observe how magnetic fields migrate toward the poles—crucial for modeling solar behavior and forecasting solar storms.”
The Solar Orbiter mission includes the SPICE instrument, which tracks the spectral signatures of elements such as hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, neon, and magnesium. These readings allow researchers to determine the movement and speed of solar wind particles—streams of charged matter ejected from the Sun that shape the space environment around Earth.
“Solar Orbiter brings us closer to the Holy Grail of solar physics—reliable space weather forecasting,” said Prof. Christopher Owen, a solar wind specialist. “Though more data is needed, this mission lays the foundation for protecting our technological world from solar hazards.”
Previously, the Sun appeared to Earth-based observers as a blindingly bright, featureless sphere. But advanced instruments aboard the Solar Orbiter reveal it as a turbulent, fluid star, its magnetic fields twisting into massive flares and gas loops.
This breakthrough marks a new era in solar science. For the first time, researchers can watch the engine of our solar system operate from a unique vantage point—its south pole—unlocking secrets that may one day allow humanity to predict, and protect against, the fury of our closest star.