The Crude Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), the Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) and the Metis coronagraph onboard the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter captured diversified aspects of two coronal mass ejections that erupted on February 12, 2021.
Solar Orbiter is a collaborative mission between the ESA and NASA to look our Sun.
The spacecraft will glimpse one of the most by no scheme-sooner than-seen areas of the Sun, alongside side the poles, and shed contemporary light on one of the most cramped understood aspects of the star’s exercise, such as the formation of the remark voltaic wind. This would possibly perchance well perchance also provide recordsdata concerning the Sun’s magnetic field and how it arises.
Launched on February 10, 2020, it carries ten scientific devices, four of which measure properties of the ambiance around the spacecraft, in particular electromagnetic characteristics of the remark voltaic wind, the stream of charged particles flowing from the Sun.
Solar Orbiter is for the time being in cruise allotment sooner than the first science mission, which begins November this year.
The operation of its six a long way away sensing devices for the duration of cruise allotment is centered basically on instrument calibration, and they’re finest energetic for the duration of dedicated checkout windows and command campaigns.
A end perihelion pass of the Sun on February 10, 2021, which took Solar Orbiter within half the gap between Earth and our star, grow to be one such different for the spacecraft to invent dedicated observations, checking instrument settings etc, in inform to simplest prepare for the upcoming science allotment.
In rotund science mode, the a long way away sensing and in situ devices will automatically make joint observations collectively.
Sketch of the relative positions of NASA’s and ESA’s spacecraft that noticed the February 12, 2021 coronal mass ejections; ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft grow to be ‘in the motivate of’ the Sun from the standpoint of Earth; the Earth grow to be about 12 degrees west of Sun-center as seen from Solar Orbiter; ESA’s Proba-2, which orbits the Earth, and the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which is positioned in orbit around the Lagrange level 1, 1.5 million km in front of the Earth in direction of the Sun, also viewed the coronal mass ejection; NASA’s STEREO-A (Solar Terrestrial Relatives Observatory) also caught a look of the occasion from its viewpoint a long way from the declare Sun-Earth line; collectively the spacecraft provide essential, diversified views on the a similar occasion. Image credit score: ESA.
By happy accident, three of Solar Orbiter’s a long way away sensing devices captured a pair of coronal mass ejections in the days after closest attain.
The mass ejections secure been also seen by ESA’s Proba-2 and the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) from the ‘front’ facet of the Sun, while NASA’s STEREO-A, positioned a long way from the Sun-Earth line, also caught a look, collectively providing a world glimpse of the occasions.
For Solar Orbiter’s SoloHI, this grow to be the first coronal mass ejection seen by the instrument.
The Metis instrument beforehand detected one on January 17, 2021, and EUI detected one in November 2020, while the spacecraft’s in situ detectors bagged their first coronal mass ejections at the moment after originate in April 2020.
