The sun’s secret south pole has stepped into the light. For the first time, humanity has captured striking views of the sun’s mysterious polar region, thanks to the Solar Orbiter spacecraft.

During Solar Orbiter’s observations of the Sun, the polarity from the north and the south poles are both present in the south pole. This marks a crucial time in understanding the Sun’s activity.

Spacecraft unveils 1st-ever images of sun's south pole: 'Beginning of a new era' European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter, which launched from Florida in 2020, got a historic look at the sun's south ...

The magnetic field drives the formation of sunspots, cooler regions on the solar surface that appear as dark blotches. At the ...

The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter, which launched in 2020 from Cape Canaveral, captured the first-ever images of the sun's south pole.

Solar Orbiter’s view of the magnetic fields around the sun’s south pole. Patches of blue and red mark the mixed magnetic fields in this region that characterize solar maximum. ESA and NASA ...

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, ...

Solar Orbiter’s view of the magnetic fields around the sun’s south pole. Patches of blue and red mark the mixed magnetic fields in this region that characterize solar maximum. ESA and NASA ...

The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter captured the sun from an angle of 17 degrees below the solar equator, enough to directly see the sun’s south pole.

177. Following a flyby of Venus in February that successfully increased its orbital inclination around the Sun, the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter recently imaged the Sun’s poles for ...