Latest news with #SOHO
News18
12-07-2025
- Science
- News18
Sun's South Pole Captured For The First Time In Historic Mission
Last Updated: ESA-NASA's Solar Orbiter reveals the Sun's South Pole for the first time, uncovering the star's magnetic chaos and opening a new era in space science In a landmark achievement for solar observation, the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA have unveiled the first-ever images of the Sun's South Pole, captured by the joint Solar Orbiter mission. Released on June 11, 2025, these high-resolution images offer an extraordinary new perspective on our closest star. A Unique Orbital Path Previous missions such as SOHO and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) have only viewed the Sun from the plane in which Earth and other planets orbit. However, the Solar Orbiter broke new ground by reaching an angle of 17 degrees above the solar plane, capturing the South Pole in unprecedented detail on March 23, 2025. The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) recorded views of the corona, that is, the Sun's superheated outer layer reaching temperatures of one million degrees Celsius. 🌞 See the Sun from a whole new the first time, our Solar Orbiter mission has captured close-up images of the Sun's mysterious poles, regions long hidden from our view. In 2025, Solar Orbiter gave us a first-ever look at the Sun's south pole. Remarkably, it… — European Space Agency (@esa) June 11, 2025 Surprising Discoveries At The Solar South Pole Among the most striking revelations is a region of magnetic chaos at the Sun's South Pole, where north and south magnetic fields intertwine. This phenomenon occurs as the Sun undergoes a magnetic field reversal approximately every 11 years, triggering heightened solar activity including sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections. Professor Carol Mandel, ESA's Director of Science, heralded the discovery as 'humanity's first glimpse into the Sun's deepest mysteries." Mission Breakthrough And Future Prospects Launched in 2020 at a cost of $1.3 billion, the Solar Orbiter reached a viewing angle of 15 degrees below the solar equator by March 2025, an achievement unattainable from Earth. By 2029, the spacecraft is expected to achieve a 33-degree inclination, promising even more comprehensive polar observations. Professor Sami Solanki of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research confirmed that the findings align closely with existing computer models of the Sun's magnetic field. The Sun's Magnetic Dance Unlike Earth, the Sun is a plasma sphere with varying rotation speeds; its equator rotates every 26 days, while the poles rotate roughly every 33 days. This differential rotation causes the magnetic field to contort, eventually flipping the Sun's magnetic poles. Professor Lucy Green of University College London, who has been part of the mission since 2005, explained that the Sun's magnetic field governs its activity cycles. A solar minimum, when magnetic activity is at its lowest, is predicted within the next five to six years. Scientists hope that data from Solar Orbiter will improve forecasting of such phenomena. Overcoming Past Limitations Although NASA's Ulysses probe passed over the solar poles in the 1990s, it lacked imaging capability. The Solar Orbiter is the first mission to provide both magnetic data and visual imagery, revolutionising solar science and offering critical insights into space weather that can affect Earth. First Published: June 12, 2025, 14:23 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
CTV News
21-06-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
‘It's about community engagement'; First annual SOHO Soapbox Derby is smashing success
Dozens of families and residents of the SOHO neighbourhood lined South St. in London, Ont. for the first annual Soapbox Derby. You couldn't wipe the smile off nine-year-old Xavier Soares' face after winning the junior division of the first annual SOHO Soaper. 'This is the first time, like me racing an actual day,' said Soares. 'I had never raced in my life.' Dozens of families and residents of the SOHO neighbourhood (South of Horton Street) lined South Street in London, Ont. for the first annual Soapbox Derby. 062125 The 1st annual SOHO Soapbox Derby had 34 entries. (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London) 'We've encouraged kids and parents or companies to build soapboxes and we're rolling them down the ramp or using a push start down to the end,' said Mark Thomas, chair of SOHO community association. Soares' car, named 'SoHomie #1' crossed the finish line first in the championship heat. He edged out the 'Stanley Coupe' driven by Jack Rice of St. Thomas. 'It was good, he was catching up there, but I kept pushing through and never gave up,' said Soares. Rice, 14, had one of the more popular cars, built by him and his father to replicate the Stanley Cup. 062125 Jack Rice, 14, in his 'Stanley Coupe' which finished 2nd in the Jr. Division of the 1st annual SOHO Soapbox Derby. (Source: Brent Lale/CTV News London) 'The car's inspired by all the Canadian teams who pursue the Stanley Cup each year,' said Rice. 'Also, all the Canadians who win it because there's lots of Canadians on all the NHL teams. We had a local race in our neighborhood a few years ago, so we just rebuilt the outside, remodeled it into the Stanley Cup.' The first annual event had 34 entries. You could buy a kit from the organizers, but if you were building your own, they emphasized individual creativity. 'We got the 'Beaver Brigade' or the 'Soho Popo', just a bunch of different cars,' said Thomas. 'It's actually impressive. All we did was say, build it out of wood, and make sure you push the Canadian pride this year specifically'. Their goal is to grow the event each year as the SOHO area boom continues. 062125 London City Councillor David Ferreira takes a run down the South Street hill during the the 1st annual SOHO Soapbox Derby. (Source: Brent Lale/CTV News London) 'It's just about trying to build pride in this community and get community engagement,' said Thomas. 'We have a lot of people that live in SOHO. We call people that live here and do more, 'SoHomies'. Just kind of drive that home that you have to do more than just live. So, we're trying to get that message across to everybody.'
Forbes
21-06-2025
- Science
- Forbes
ESA's Solar Orbiter Should Solve Mystery Of Sun's Outermost Atmosphere
ESA's Solar Orbiter mission will face the Sun from within the orbit of Mercury at its closest ... More approach. The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter mission recently stunned the world with the first-ever full images of our Sun's South pole, proving that this was going to be a mission like no other. Using an orbital gravity assist from the planet Venus, the Solar Orbiter mission spacecraft was able to maneuver into an orbit that has taken it to an angle 17 degrees below the Sun's equator. Over the coming years, the spacecraft will tilt its orbit even further, so the best views are yet to come, says ESA. The 1.2-billion-euro Solar Orbiter mission, with NASA participation, should finally help us understand the origin of the Sun's solar winds as well as our understanding of the Sun's poles. And arguably most importantly, it should solve the puzzle of why our star's outermost atmosphere, or corona, is heated to millions of degrees Kelvin and is thus so much hotter than the Sun's own surface. By contrast, our Sun's visible photosphere, or surface, averages only 5,500 degrees K. With Solar Orbiter, we are clearly seeing energy releases on the nano-flare scale, Daniel Mueller, a solar physicist and ESA project scientist for both ESA's SOHO and Solar Orbiter missions to the Sun, tells me in his office in The Netherlands. But the question is, would these nano-flares continue like that infinitely, or is there a certain lower limit to the production of these nano-flares, Mueller wonders. The puzzle is whether these nano-flares are enough to heat up the Sun's corona to the temperatures with which it is routinely measured. A Unique View Launched in 2020, from its highly elliptical orbit just inside Mercury's perihelion, the closest point in our innermost planet's solar orbit, the ESA spacecraft offers the best views yet of our own yellow dwarf star. We can see on scales down to about 200 kilometers on the Sun, which shows us a lot of dynamics of our star, says Mueller. And thanks to its newly tilted orbit around the Sun, the European Space Agency-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft is the first to image the Sun's poles from outside the ecliptic plane (the imaginary geometric plane in which our Earth orbits the Sun), says ESA. We observed the Sun's North pole at the end of this past April, says Mueller. But we passed the Southern pole first and then the Northern pole six weeks later, he says. At the moment, as seen from Earth, the Solar Orbiter is almost behind the Sun, so the data downlink has slowed to a trickle. But by early October, Mueller expects to have downloaded all the data from Solar Orbiter's Spring polar observations of the Sun. And within a matter of two to three months after the data is on the ground, the first scientific results will have been written up and submitted to journals for publication, says Mueller. These observations are also key to understanding the Sun's magnetic field and why it flips roughly every 11 years, coinciding with a peak in solar activity, says ESA. The spacecraft's instruments show that the Sun's South pole is a bit of a magnetic mess now, with both North and South polarity magnetic fields present, ESA notes. Ready To Flip Right now, there is not a clear dominant magnetic polarity, but a mix of the two, says Mueller. And that is exactly what you would expect to find during the maximum of the Sun's activity cycle, when the magnetic field is about to flip, he says. The real applications are for space weather predictions. Case in point, better space weather forecasting may have saved many of Elon Musk's 523 Starlink satellites that reentered Earth's atmosphere between 2020 and 2024. This period coincides with the rising phase of solar cycle 25, which has shown itself to be more intense than the previous solar cycle, the authors of a 2025 paper appearing in the journal Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences write. Our results indisputably show that satellites reenter faster with higher geomagnetic activity, the authors note. There was a big solar storm that caused the earth's upper Earth atmosphere to expand, so, the satellites experienced more drag, and therefore didn't make it to orbit, says Mueller. One option may have been simply to hold off on launches until this increased period of solar activity enabled a less risky geomagnetic environment in Earth's upper atmosphere. The hope is that the Solar Orbiter mission and other missions like it will lead to better and more reliable space weather predictions that could potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars in the commercial satellite industry. Solar Orbiter should do its share in solving both pure solar physics conundrums as well as in more practical applications like space weather. The good news is that the spacecraft still has plenty of fuel left. Our current funding goes until the end of 2026, but because we had a picture-perfect launch provided by United Launch Alliance and NASA, we saved a lot of fuel, says Mueller. So, the onboard fuel reserves are so large that we can keep going for a long time, he says.
New Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Early skill identification crucial, says Kerala Fin Minister K N Balagopal
KOLLAM: Finance Minister K N Balagopal emphasised the importance of anganwadis in identifying skills of children at an early age to build a strong foundation for their health and education. He made these remarks at the inauguration of a newly opened anganwadi in Ezhukone. Balagopal also highlighted upcoming developments in the region, stating that new industrial enterprises will emerge in the Kollam-Punalur area as part of the Vizhinjam project. He added that the SOHO IT park in Kottarakkara is nearing completion and several infrastructure projects are underway to boost growth in Ezhukone. The new anganwadi, number 80 in Ezhukone HS ward, was constructed with Rs 18 lakh from the local development fund. Additionally, Rs 30 crore has been allocated for the purchase of smartphones for anganwadis across the state. A sum of Rs 3 crore from the Asset Development Fund has been earmarked for constructing market, shopping, and office complexes in Ezhukone. Road renovation work is also in progress in Ezhukone, known as the cricket capital of Kollam district. The event was attended by Kottarakkara Block Panchayat President A Abhilash, District Panchayat Member Sumalal, Ezhukone Grama Panchayat President Biju Abraham and anganwadi workers.
India Today
01-06-2025
- Science
- India Today
Earth to be hit as Sun erupts with most powerful explosion of 2025
A powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) is heading straight for Earth, with both NASA and NOAA models in rare agreement that the solar storm will strike our planet on June impact is expected to spark a severe (G4-class) geomagnetic storm, raising the possibility of dazzling auroras visible across much of Europe and numerous US. states — potentially making it one of the most significant space weather events of Solar Cycle 25 if the storm reaches its predicted source of this solar eruption is sunspot 4100, which erupted in dramatic fashion on May 31. Earth-orbiting satellites detected an M8.2-class solar flare that lasted more than three hours, an unusually long and powerful event. While technically just shy of the X-class threshold, the flare's slow, sustained energy release provided ample force to launch a massive CME from the Sun's after the flare, SOHO coronagraphs recorded a bright, fast-moving halo CME barreling directly toward II radio emissions from shock waves within the eruption indicate a velocity of about 1,938 kmps — among the fastest recorded this cycle. The CME's arrival is anticipated between midday and early evening on June 1, though exact timing remains uncertain due to fluctuating solar wind impact, the CME is expected to trigger immediate geomagnetic disturbances, with G4-class storm conditions possible through June 2. The storm's severity will depend on the orientation and strength of the CME's magnetic field as it interacts with Earth's conditions align, auroras could be visible at unusually low latitudes, offering a rare spectacle for skywatchers well beyond the polar this event is not expected to rival the legendary May 2024 storm, it could still be one of the most powerful of the current solar addition to auroras, severe geomagnetic storms can disrupt power grids, satellite operations, and GPS systems, prompting infrastructure operators to remain on the world watches the skies, scientists and space weather forecasters emphasize that each event like this provides critical data for understanding and preparing for the Sun's unpredictable moods.
