The EUI telescope on Solar Orbiter is getting its first glimpses of the poles of the Sun. Solar Orbiter has entered a new phase in its mission where additional Venus gravity assist manoeuvres are used to increase the inclination of the satellite's orbit, helping the instruments see the polar regions of the Sun, for the first time.
In this movie, we are looking on the solar south pole as the sun rotates over the last 11 months. The left figure is from the SWAP telescope in Earth Orbit, the sun sways from left to right because the solar equator is ~7deg off from the orbital plane of the Earth. As a consequence we can see, even from Earth, once per year a bit of each solar pole, but never more than the red circle (diameter of ~7deg latitude). The right figure is from Solar Orbiter, which has its own orbit around the Sun, and as a consequence Solar Orbiter sometimes images the Sun on the far-side, the side not seen from Earth. Moreover, we can also see more of the poles. In the last frame of the movie, pictured above, we see up to 16 deg beyond the pole. In the coming years, this will still double to more than 33 degrees.
