Tag: Solar Orbiter
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Space Science in 2026: New lunar explorers, Mars missions, and space telescopes
With many missions on the manifest, the new year promises to be packed with space science. Two interplanetary spacecraft will arrive at their destinations as another Mars window opens in late 2026. Meanwhile, multiple space telescopes have their launch dates set for this year, and the schedule promises an increased cadence for lunar missions. The…
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Solar Orbiter makes first ever observations of Sun’s south pole, reveals messy magnetic field
Following a flyby of Venus in February that successfully increased its orbital inclination around the Sun, the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter recently imaged the Sun’s poles for the first time. The images are the first to show how the Sun’s immense magnetic field interacts at its poles, and will improve scientists’ understanding of the…
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NASA and ESA missions unexpectedly collaborate to reveal what accelerates solar winds
As the solar wind moves away from the Sun, it cools slower than expected and accelerates. Where the energy that powers this phenomenon comes from has long been unknown. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Solar Orbiter, when they coincidentally lined up to observe the same solar wind stream, provided scientists…
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Solar Orbiter discovers plasma jets that could fuel the production of solar wind
Recently, the joint European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft discovered an array of tiny jets of material being ejected from the Sun’s outer atmosphere. Ejecting plasma at 100 kilometers per second, the jets last for just 20 to 100 seconds, and could be the source of solar wind. Solar wind is made up of…
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Solar Orbiter successfully completes historic close pass of the Sun
On March 26, 2022, the joint European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft successfully completed its first close pass through the Sun’s corona, bringing the spacecraft’s specially-designed collection of instruments closer to the Sun than ever before. During the close pass, called perihelion, all ten of Solar Orbiter’s instruments operated simultaneously, working together…
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BepiColombo, Solar Orbiter collect data on Venus during historic double flyby
On August 9, 2021, the joint ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft performed a flyby of Venus, coming within 7,995 km of the Venusian surface. Just 33 hours later, on August 10, the joint ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft flew by the planet, coming within 552 km of the surface. The historic double flyby was a result of the…
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Carrington Event still provides warning of Sun’s potential 161 years later
On 28 August 1859, a series of sunspots began to form on the surface of our stellar parent. The sunspots quickly tangled the Sun’s magnetic field lines in their area and produced bright, observed solar flares and one — likely two — Coronal Mass Ejections, one major. The massive solar storm impacted our planet on…
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Carrington Event still provides warning of Sun’s potential 161 years later
On 28 August 1859, a series of sunspots began to form on the surface of our stellar parent. The sunspots quickly tangled the Sun’s magnetic field lines in their area and produced bright, observed solar flares and one — likely two — Coronal Mass Ejections, one major. The massive solar storm impacted our planet on…
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Solar Orbiter reveals closest pictures, new science of the Sun
The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA have released the first pictures and preliminary findings captured by the Solar Orbiter, including intriguing glimpses of “campfires” near the solar surface that could shed new light on one of the biggest solar mysteries scientists are eager to learn more about. Numerous other scientific areas of intrigue were…
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Solar Orbiter reveals closest pictures, new science of the Sun
The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA have released the first pictures and preliminary findings captured by the Solar Orbiter, including intriguing glimpses of “campfires” near the solar surface that could shed new light on one of the biggest solar mysteries scientists are eager to learn more about. Numerous other scientific areas of intrigue were…