For the first time in history, humanity has witnessed a previously unseen part of the Sun: its South Pole. This unprecedented view comes courtesy of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Solar Orbiter, which embarked on a daring mission to tilt its orbit and capture an area of the Sun that has long been shrouded in mystery. By tilting its path by 17 degrees in February 2025, the spacecraft was able to venture below the plane of the Solar System and reveal a critical region of our star that has never been directly observed before.
A Bold New Perspective on the Sun
This breakthrough is significant for solar science, as Earth and most solar instruments have traditionally orbited the Sun around its equator, never allowing a clear view of the poles. According to astrophysicist Carole Mundell, director of science at the ESA, “Today we reveal humankind’s first-ever views of the Sun’s pole.”
The Sun’s poles play a vital role in the behavior of solar activity, including the infamous 11-year solar cycle, during which the Sun’s magnetic poles flip. Understanding this process has always been a challenge due to the lack of observations from these critical regions.
Solar Orbiter‘s mission could not have come at a more opportune moment, as the Sun is emerging from its solar maximum, when the polar flip occurs. The spacecraft’s new observations could provide invaluable insights into the Sun’s behavior as it transitions to its solar minimum.
Groundbreaking Instruments at Work
To capture this remarkable data, three instruments aboard Solar Orbiter worked together, each providing unique insights into the Sun’s south pole. The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) focused on the Sun’s magnetic field by studying the polarization of light emitted by the Sun. This tool was able to map out the complex and chaotic magnetic field at the Sun’s south pole, revealing a fascinating mixture of north and south polarities. According to astrophysicist Sami Solanki, of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the Sun’s poles are “literally terra incognita,” meaning they were an unexplored region until now.
The Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) was responsible for capturing detailed images of the solar atmosphere in specific wavelengths, allowing scientists to observe fine structures that had never been seen before. Meanwhile, the Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instrument provided data on the temperature and composition of the solar corona, including tracking the movement of carbon ions in the transition region.
The SPICE instrument’s findings, such as Doppler maps showing how fast particles were moving, provide crucial information for understanding the solar wind, a constant flow of charged particles that impacts our entire solar system.
The Sun’s Magnetic Flip: A Complex Puzzle
One of the most exciting findings from Solar Orbiter’s observations is the discovery of the magnetic field’s chaotic nature at the south pole. The magnetic field exhibited a blend of both north and south polarities during the observation period. As the Sun heads toward solar minimum, one polarity will eventually dominate, leading to a more orderly magnetic field before the next solar cycle begins. This phenomenon, known as the solar polarity flip, has remained a mystery for scientists, and this new data may help unlock answers to why this process occurs.
Solar Orbiter’s findings represent just the beginning of a new era in solar research. With the spacecraft continuing to orbit the Sun at a 17-degree tilt until 2026, it will gather even more detailed data, gradually increasing its tilt to 33 degrees by 2029.
As Solar Orbiter moves further out of the ecliptic plane, it will provide better and better views of the Sun’s poles, helping scientists understand the Sun’s magnetic field, solar wind, and solar activity like never before.
