The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter has provided us with the most detailed images of the Sun's surface ever captured. The spacecraft's Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) instrument captured stunning images revealing the Sun's magnetic field, sunspot activity, and the movement of plasma.
A European spacecraft is showing us how dynamic the Sun is with newly released images, the highest-resolution images of our star's surface so far. The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter observes the Sun with six different imaging instruments capturing its many layers, including the photosphere, or the surface of the Sun . According to the ESA , the images were assembled from observations taken by the Solar Orbiter 's Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) instrument.
The imager takes photos in visible light, maps the magnetic field and records its speed. The image below shows the magnetic map taken by the PHI. Below, the PHI captured the speed and direction of the movement of the magnetic field. According to the ESA, this is called a 'magnetogram' and shows that the Sun's magnetic field is concentrated around sunspot regions. 'It either points outward (red) or inward (blue) wherever the sunspots lie. The strong magnetic field explains why plasma inside sunspots is colder,' the ESA said. 'Normally, convection moves heat from inside the Sun to its surface, but this is disrupted by charged particles being forced to follow the dense magnetic field lines in and around the sunspots.' Finally, the image below is a visible light photo of the Sun, revealing hot plasma radiating from the Sun at temperatures between 8,100 and 10,800 degrees Fahrenheit. SEE MORE: EXTREME GEOMAGNETIC STORM TRIGGERS JAW-DROPPING AURORAS AROUND THE WORLD The sunspots are notable in the image below, looking like black holes because these regions are cooler and emit less light. The sunspots are also interesting because they were taken over a year ago. The Sun recently reached solar maximum, a period of peak sunspot activity in an 11-year cycle. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, captured the image below in August. The sun's surface was covered in active sunspot regions, which produce space weather that impacts Eart
Solar Orbiter Sun Spacecraft Sunspots Magnetic Field Plasma ESA Solar Maximum
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