Science & technology

Solar Orbiter Captures First Images of Sun's South Pole

JUN 12 2025·Updated JUN 13 2025

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Above: Solar Orbiter's view of the sun's south pole on March 23, 2025. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Facts

The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft has captured humanity's first-ever images of the sun's south pole by tilting its orbit 17 degrees below the solar equator in March, breaking free from the ecliptic plane where all previous spacecraft and planets orbit.
Forbes
The Times (UK)
Solar Orbiter's observations reveal the sun's magnetic field at the south pole is in complete disarray during the current solar maximum, with both north and south magnetic polarities present simultaneously. This chaotic magnetic state occurs only briefly during each 11-year solar cycle when the sun's magnetic field flips, contrasting sharply with the orderly dipole structure expected during solar minimum.
IFLScience
PHYS
The spacecraft's three primary instruments captured complementary views of the sun's south pole from an angle of 15 degrees below the solar equator. The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager mapped magnetic fields, the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager revealed the corona, and the SPICE instrument measured particle movement in different atmospheric layers.
Scientific American
BBC Sky at Night Magazine
For the first time, scientists can observe how solar material accelerates from the sun's poles using Doppler measurements, potentially solving mysteries about solar wind formation and the corona's extreme temperatures. The SPICE instrument tracked carbon ions moving at different speeds, revealing small plumes and jets that may explain how particles are ejected into space as part of the solar wind.
ESA
The Times (UK)
"This is just the first step," said Daniel Müller, Solar Orbiter project scientist for the European Space Agency, which released the images on Wednesday. "In the coming years, the spacecraft will climb further out of the ecliptic plane for ever better views of the sun's polar regions."
USA Today
The Telegraph
The Solar Orbiter will reach 24 degrees by December 2026 and 33 degrees by June 2029, providing increasingly better views of both polar regions. The complete dataset from the first pole-to-pole observations is expected by October, with all 10 scientific instruments contributing data about solar magnetic fields and activity cycles.
GB News
Forbes
ESA

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The Spin

Narrative A

This breakthrough marks a golden age of space discovery that will revolutionize solar physics. The chaotic magnetic fields observed at the south pole perfectly match theoretical predictions for solar maximum, validating decades of scientific modeling. These unprecedented observations will finally unlock the secrets of the sun's internal clock and help protect modern civilization from dangerous space weather, which can disrupt power grids, satellites, and communications systems on Earth.

BBC Sky at Night Magazine

The Times (UK)

Narrative B

While these first polar images are scientifically valuable, the real impact remains to be seen when the complete dataset arrives in October. The mission's expensive and complex orbital maneuvers represent a significant investment that must prove its worth through concrete improvements in critical space weather, including solar flares and coronal mass ejections, forecasting. Current observations simply confirm what scientists already expected about magnetic field behavior during solar maximum.

Scientific American