Solar flares pose a threat to space equipment such as satellites, and they are a hazard for astronauts journeying through deep space. The Sun is known to follow an 11-year cycle of sunspot activity and is currently almost completely free of sunspots. Solar Orbiter has already flown inside the orbit of Venus, collecting some of the closest data to the Sun so far, and will get progressively closer in the coming years. This is expected to change over the coming years as sunspot activity ramps up, causing the Sun to become more active and raising the chances of adverse ‘space weather’ events, where the Sun releases huge amounts of material and energy in solar flares and coronal mass ejections. This site uses cookies Three of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft’s instruments, including Imperial’s magnetometer, have released their first data.  |  See more tags. Closest-ever images of the Sun reveal ‘campfires’ near the surface, First science data from Solar Orbiter shows Imperial instrument working well. This area is crucial to predicting when and understanding how eruptions from the Sun will take place, and whether or not they will affect Earth. Currently, however, the Sun’s magnetic ‘equator’ is lying very flat to the true equator, allowing the spacecraft to observe fields from the Northern magnetic hemisphere for weeks on end, when just a few degrees north of the equator. The telescope will focus on the interplanetary medium, or the space that lies between the Sun and the planets. Now, three of its ten instruments have released their first tranche of data, revealing the state of the Sun in a ‘quiet’ phase. It will also reveal how energetic-particle radiation travels out into the Solar System following solar eruptions. Hayley Dunning The instrument will collect data on the density and flow of the solar material. "The unique feature of this mission is that we’ve been able to put all these instruments to work together, and they also work together in orbit because they are able to talk to each other," Cesar Garcia, Solar Orbiter Project Manager at ESA, said during the press conference. You can be assured our editors closely monitor every feedback sent and will take appropriate actions. The content is provided for information purposes only. The mission is an ambitious collaboration between the European Space Agency and NASA. "We measure magnetic fields thousands of times smaller than those we are familiar with on Earth," says Tim Horbury of Imperial College London, Principal Investigator for the Magnetometer instrument (MAG). We tested it here on Earth before launch, but we cannot perfectly recreate the harsh space environment, and certainly not for the prolonged periods MAG is now experiencing. MAG has been performing brilliantly for seven months now. Three of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft’s instruments, including Imperial’s magnetometer, have released their first data. Solar Orbiter carries a suite of 10 instruments, comprising in situ and remote-sensing ones, to observe the turbulent solar surface, the sun’s hot outer atmosphere, and changes in the solar wind. The instrument recorded data before, during and after the boom's deployment, allowing the scientists to understand the influence of the spacecraft on measurements in the space environment. Email: h.dunning@imperial.ac.uk While different parts of the spacecraft turned on, the team had to take data from all of them in order to eliminate their signal. One of the first challenges from the team was to eliminate the tiny magnetic field signatures from the spacecraft itself. "We don’t really know what drives this cycle of 11 years and we can’t predict how strong the next cycle is going to be.". and Terms of Use. SPICE is an extreme ultraviolet spectrometer designed to map the plasma, or streams of hot gas, that erupt from the Sun’s surface in the form of solar wind. Campus maps and information  |  MAG Instrument Manager Helen O’Brien said: “MAG has been performing brilliantly for seven months now. Thank you for taking your time to send in your valued opinion to Science X editors. "The data we received shows how the magnetic field decreases from the vicinity of the spacecraft to where the instruments are actually deployed," adds Tim. This instrument will capture ultra-violet images of the lower layers of the solar atmosphere, which lie just above the surface of the Sun. We tested it here on Earth before launch, but we cannot perfectly recreate the harsh space environment, and certainly not for the prolonged periods MAG is now experiencing. Inverse breaks down the tools aboard NASA's Solar Orbiter and what they will tell us about the Sun. This includes the solar panels, the thrusters, the other science instruments and over 50 separate heaters. NASA.gov brings you the latest images, videos and news from America's space agency. Further out, near the Earth, these particles are distributed more evenly in the bulk solar wind of charged particles streaming from the Sun, but at Solar Orbiter there are also ‘beams’ of protons and electrons coming from the Sun. Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, tel: +44 (0)20 7589 5111 SoloHi is a visible-light telescope that will image sunlight as it is reflected off electrons in solar wind. The Magnetometer will help scientists trace the origins of the magnetic field and solar wind plasma in the corona. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. part may be reproduced without the written permission. “They have worked incredibly hard over the last few months.  |  Professor Tim Horbury, the Principal Investigator for MAG from the Department of Physics at Imperial, says that the fact the data is ready on time is testament to the hard work of the engineering team at Imperial. It is currently orbiting close to the equator of the Sun, which in times of high activity would show a very warped magnetic field. It carries ten scientific instruments, four of which measure properties of the environment around the spacecraft, especially electromagnetic characteristics of the solar wind, the stream of charged particles flowing from the sun. Solar Orbiter is living up to its promise. Click here to sign in with This document is subject to copyright. It will help scientists understand how solar radiation forms by breaking down components of the solar wind plasma and the Sun’s magnetic field. While at the beginning they saw mostly the magnetic field of the spacecraft, at the end of the procedure, they got the first glimpse of the significantly weaker magnetic field in the surrounding environment. Three instruments of ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft -- the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD), the Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) instrument, and the Magnetometer (MAG) -- … Your feedback will go directly to Science X editors. "By the end of April, we will have a better idea of the performance of the instruments and hopefully start collecting first scientific data in mid-May.". which will measure solar wind, plasma, and other aspects of the environment around the spacecraft. Report incorrect content This instrument is designed to survey X-rays as they erupt from the surface of the Sun during solar flares. Comms-strategy-Wider-society, Solar Orbiter and the Parker Solar Probe will work together over the coming years to compare data on the same phenomena at different distances and orbits around the Sun as it wakes up and enters the next phase of its sunspot cycle.