European Space Agency releases first images of the Sun's south pole
“We've never had this view before, it's phenomenal,” NASA astrophysicist and solar expert Nour Raouafi told the New York Times , responding to unprecedented images of the Sun's south pole captured by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Solar Orbiter probe.
With these images taken on March 16 and 17 and made public on June 11, it is the first time that humans have been able to observe one of the poles of their star, hoping to better understand certain phenomena, such as the dynamics of solar cycles.
“If this news doesn't seem so extraordinary, remember that all the images of the Sun you've seen so far have been taken around its equator,” Space.com points out . “That's because Earth, the other planets in the solar system, and all spacecraft orbit the Sun on a flat disk called the 'ecliptic plane,'” the specialist site continues.
In mid-March, the Solar Orbiter probe managed to leave the plane of the ecliptic by tilting itself 17° below the solar equator, and, at a distance of more than 50 million kilometers from the Sun, to observe its south pole.
“One of the first findings of Solar Orbiter is that the magnetic fields near the polar region are in complete disorder,” Space reports. To be precise, the south pole is home to both north and south polar magnetic fields.
This magnetic patchwork, which matches what scientists expected based on their models, indicates that the Sun has reached its maximum activity. This activity is also manifested by an intensification of the ejections of matter and gas balls. This is “a period during which it prepares for a polarity reversal, during which the south pole will become the magnetic north,” explains The Guardian .
The Sun is therefore at the end of its cycle, and once the poles have shifted, calm will return. "The Sun will reach its next solar minimum in five or six years, a period during which its magnetic field will be at its most orderly," the British daily reports.
