More articles from category
Sun
News
Nearby stars
Space missions
19. 05. 2022 The Solar Orbiter probe got close to the Sun during its March flyby and took some amazing pictures of its surface. The probe was closer than planet Mercury at that time. Solar Orbiter is a European mission with NASA contributions. It launched in 2020 and its aim is to study the Sun from polar orbit.
| Mission | Timing | Status |
|---|---|---|
Solar Orbiter |
10. 2. 2020 | Ongoing |
Sun from distance 0.378 AU
The probe’s orbit resonates with Venus to allow its gravity to further refine the trajectory. After several encounters it will be able to see the Sun’s poles for the first time. The Sun's surface is extremely hot, the images were taken in ultraviolet light and converted to visible part of the spectrum.