The Solar Orbiter, a joint mission between the European Space Agency and NASA that launched in February 2020, orbits the sun from an average distance of 26 million miles (42 million kilometers).

But in February, Solar Orbiter used a gravity-assist flyby around Venus to tilt its trajectory, enabling a view of the sun from about 17 degrees below the equator.

The robotic Solar Orbiter spacecraft has obtained the first images ever taken of our sun’s two poles as scientists seek a deeper understanding of Earth’s host star, including its magnetic ...

This collage shows Solar Orbiter's view of the sun's south pole on 16–17 March 2025, from a viewing angle of about 15° below the solar equator. Credit: ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/PHI, EUI & SPICE ...

Solar Orbiter used momentum from its flyby of Venus on February 18 to push itself out of the ecliptic plane that contains Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Around a month later, the spacecraft was ...

The Solar Orbiter, a joint mission between the European Space Agency and NASA that launched in February 2020, orbits the sun from an average distance of 26 million miles.

Given Solar Orbiter’s proximity to the sun, the spacecraft had to be rotated after each image to capture every part of the sun’s face. As a result, each image is the result of a mosaic of 25 ...