Economy|Science and Technology

Solar Orbiter gives closest photos of the Sun, ever

Scientists have observed miniature solar flares, known as ‘campfires’, which have never been captured on film before.

out side image Images of the Sun taken with Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) and Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft are seen in a combination of photographs rel
Images of the Sun are seen in a combination of photographs released by NASA [Solar Orbiter/EUI Team; PHI Team/ESA & NASA/via Reuters]
Published On 16 Jul 2020

Scientists say they have obtained the closest images taken of the Sun ever as part of a pan-European mission to study solar winds and flares that could have far-reaching effects back on Earth.

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Solar Orbiter blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral in February and completed its first flyby of our star last month, sending back unprecedented images of phenomena close to its surface on Thursday.

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“We can already see hints of very interesting phenomena that we have not been able to observe in detail before,” said Daniel Muller, Solar Orbiter project scientist at ESA.

“This makes us confident that Solar Orbiter will help us answer profound open questions about the Sun.”

What are called ?campfires?, annotated with white arrows, are seen in a combination the closest images ever obtained of the Sun, made by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft and released by NASA July 16, 2020
‘Campfires’ annotated with white arrows, are seen in a combination of the closest images ever obtained of the Sun, released by NASA [Handout via Reuters]
A map of magnetic properties for the whole Sun based on data from the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) on NASA/ESA?s Solar Orbiter spacecraft taken on June 18, 2020 and released by ESA July
A map of magnetic properties for the whole Sun is shown based on data from the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) on NASA/ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft [Handout via Reuters]

In particular, the team observed dozens of miniature solar flares, known as “campfires”, which until now had never been captured on film.

David Berghmans, from Belgium’s Royal Observatory, said the campfires were several million times smaller than solar flares, which can be observed from Earth.

Nevertheless, the smallest the team observed still measured about 400km across – “about the size of a small European country”, Berghmans said.

“The Sun seems relatively calm on first viewing but when you look at it in detail you can see miniature eruptions everywhere,” he added.

A high-resolution image of the Sun from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) taken with the HRIEUV telescope on NASA/ESA?s Solar Orbiter spacecraft taken on May 30, 2020 and released by ESA July 16, 2
A high-resolution image of the Sun is shown. The circle in the lower-left corner indicates the size of Earth for scale. The arrow points to features of the solar surface called ‘campfires’ [Handout via Reuters]
Source: AFP