The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA’s Solar Orbiter has captured new footage of solar wind particles emitted by the Sun. This footage was obtained using the orbiter’s Metis instrument, a coronagraph designed to block direct sunlight to observe the fainter phenomena in the corona, the Sun’s outer atmosphere. Recent research detailing these observations has been published in The Astrophysical Journal.
The research team reported that during the orbiter’s perihelion passage, Metis observed a significant helical radial structure extending from 1.5 to 3 solar radii, persisting for over three hours. According to the researchers, these observations are distinct as they appear to directly depict the prolonged outflow of Alfvénic solar wind into the heliosphere.
The solar radius measures 432,690 miles (696,347 kilometers), meaning the structure described extended up to 1,298,070 miles (2,089,041 kilometers). This considerable size highlights the unique nature of the structure observed.
The footage from Metis was captured on October 12, 2022. According to a release from ESA, Metis is the sole instrument capable of identifying such subtle solar wind features. The Solar Orbiter frequently captures unusual phenomena related to the Sun’s extreme physics. For example, just last month, the spacecraft recorded small jets produced near the Sun’s South Pole.
Solar wind is continuously interacting with Earth, at times contributing to aurorae in the planet’s skies. However, the specialized capabilities of Metis allow researchers to investigate the solar wind at its source, offering insights not only into the wind but also into the Sun’s inner corona responsible for producing these particles.
The mission for Solar Orbiter is scheduled to remain operational through 2026, with an extension possibility until 2030. This timeframe suggests that further intimate insights into the Sun are highly likely in the coming years.
