Some of them were developed and built at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen. Director Sami Solanki and his team hope to gain insights into the solar wind and the origins of magnetic fields. They cause many as yet unexplained occurrences. Why for example are there very powerful eruptions alternating with calmer phases in eleven-year cycles? Why does the Sun’s corona heat up to an unbelievable one million degrees, even though the gas layers beneath it are “no more” than 10,000 degrees Celsius?
Solar Orbiter’s first images of the Sun
In spring 2020 the Solar Orbiter space probe was halfway between Earth and the Sun – nearer to the Sun than any space probe has ever been before. The images show views of the Sun in various spectral ranges, taken using ten different telescopes and measuring instruments on board of Solar Orbiter.