NASA’s Illuminate: Solar Orbiter Reveals Sun’s Poles For The First Time

We just got a brand new view of the Sun! ☀️ 👀 ESA/NASA’s Solar Orbiter has revealed the first-ever images of the Sun’s polar regions, previously hidden parts of the Sun newly visible thanks to the spacecraft’s uniquely “tilted” orbit. The new images showcase a surprisingly splotchy mix of magnetic fields at the Sun’s poles. It’s a sign that our Sun is in its most chaotic phase, right in the middle of “flipping” its entire magnetic field upside down. 🔃 With its new vantage point, Solar Orbiter will be the first spacecraft to watch this flipping process happen at the Sun’s poles. The data will give new insight into the forces driving solar eruptions that affect Earth. NASA’s Illuminate: Out-of-this-world images shining light on our Sun and solar system. #NASAsIlluminate #NASA #sun #space #science Music credit: “The Gourmet” by Marco Andrea Pes [IMRO] via Universal Production Music Video credit: NASA Producer: Joy Ng (eMITS) This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14779 While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14779 For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://www.nasa.gov/nasa-brand-center/images-and-media/. If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/NASAGoddard Follow NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center · Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/nasagoddard · X: http://twitter.com/NASAGoddard · Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASAGoddard · Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc