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The ejection of the coronal mass will be the first event observed by the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) instrument, which filmed a stream of material exploding from the Sun.
NOTIF.ID, TEKNO – The camera caught the sun’s explosion for the first time. The video was obtained before the official Solar Orbiter science mission began.
Known, Solar Orbiter is a joint mission between European Space Agency (ESA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The mission was launched in February 2020, and has made the first two close-up approaches to the Sun, the last time on 10 February.
Until now, scientists were still digging into this data before the spacecraft began its formal science work in November this year. However, they saw something special when they approached the Sun last February.
Quoted from Space.comThe scientists witnessed two coronal mass releases that occur when the Sun spits large plumes of its atmosphere into space.
At that time, the spacecraft’s distance allowed the Solar Orbiter to see parts of the Sun that were completely invisible to scientists on Earth.
However, they are still digging into what the spacecraft saw, which means that sending data back to Earth must be a very slow process.
The ESA stated that the ejection of the coronal mass was the first event the instrument had observed Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) which filmed a stream of matter exploding from the sun. The instrument only collects data by chance.
“SoloHI was able to capture a very amazing view of one of the coronal mass throws that occurred on February 12 and February 13. “Each of the three instruments on the Solar Orbiter focuses on a different region, so that the view stretches from the visible surface of the Sun to more than 20 times the width of the Sun itself,” said ESA.
Meanwhile, three other spacecraft: NASA’s STEREO-A, ESA’s Proba-2, and a joint mission Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) observed the same event.
Overall, the four mission’s observations of coronal mass shedding offer the sort of global perspective on the Sun and its surroundings that scientists have been difficult to find so far.
The ejection of the coronal mass is of interest to scientists and engineers because it can potentially damage spacecraft and endanger unprotected astronauts, especially outside orbit. International Space Station (ISS).
So far, scientists have limited ability to monitor and predict space weather. Therefore, missions such as the Solar Orbiter are expected to increase researchers’ understanding of how the Sun works.
Another unique contribution of the Solar Orbiter in this quest is its tilted orbit. This allowed scientists to describe the sun’s poles for the first time. The following is a video recording of the Sun when it releases an eruption.
