“ No images have been taken of the Sun at such a close space before and the story of contingent they ply is telling , ” Dr David Long of the UK ’s UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory , and Co - Principal Investigator on the ESA Solar Orbiter Mission EUI Investigation , said in astatement .
The image have unveil a young phenomenon , dubbed " campfire , " near the surface of the Sun .
“ They show miniature flare across the control surface of the Sun , which look like campfires that are gazillion of times smaller than the solar flares that we see from Earth . Dotted across the Earth’s surface , these minor flare pass might play an of import use in a cryptical phenomenon called coronal heating , whereby the Sun ’s stunned layer , or Saint Ulmo’s fire , is more than 200 - 500 times red-hot than the layers below , ” Long say .
This first - light image and the scientific analytic thinking comport , including measurement ofComet ATLAS ’s tailas it swung by , were part of the team ’s examination of the spacecraft ’s 10 science instruments to check that everything was working properly . Tests will continue on a regular basis until the space vehicle gets into its operational sphere in November 2021 . Then , its faithful passage will take it as virtually as just 42.5 million kilometers ( 26.4 million miles ) from the Sun .
The data announced today includes so much more than these incredible images , though . elaborate spectroscopic analytic thinking of the Sun was take in by the musical instrument , as well as selective information on the chemical penning of the solar flatus , the flow of particles release by the Sun . The mission scientists are already analyzing the interesting magnetic information , already argue the complexness of the magnetised fields inside and around the Sun . Perhaps the most exciting affair of all is that this is only the beginning of the mission .
“ These are only the first images and we can already see interesting Modern phenomena , ” Daniel Müller , ESA ’s Solar Orbiter Project Scientist , say in astatement . “ We did n’t really expect such keen results the right way from the start . We can also see how our ten scientific pawn complement each other , ply a holistic picture of the Sun and the surrounding surround . ”
These mental image are not the high - resolution pictures of the Sun ; those were choose by the 4 - meterDaniel K. Inouye Solar Telescopein Hawaii earlier this year . But as the Solar Orbiter is not on the ground , it has n’t go Earth ’s atmospheric state in the path so can produce more complete images of the Sun .
" These new images are very exciting because they are the close picture show we have been able-bodied to take of the Sun up to now , " Dr Caroline Harper , Head of Space Science at the UK Space Agency , told IFScience . " These new discoveries are a piece in the jigsaw about how the Sun works and how it yield its solar confidential information which causes space weather which can touch on the satellites we bank on so much in our every daytime lives . "
The goal of this military mission , over its several years of operation , will be to study the Sun like never before , include convey the first images of the Sun ’s poles . This will be possible thanks to several flybys around Venus . The squad will use the gravity of the planet to switch the orbital cavity of the spacecraft , finally rise to 33 degrees from the plane of the Solar System , a all important vantage point from which point it will be potential to see the polar region of the Sun .
