New Mission Will Take First Peek at Sun’s Poles
A new spacecraft is journeying to the Sun to snap the first pictures of the Sun’s north and south poles. Solar Orbiter, a collaboration between ESA (the European Space Agency) and NASA will have its first opportunity to launch from Cape Canaveral on Feb. 7, 2020, at 11:15 p.m. EST. Launching on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, the spacecraft will use Venus’ and Earth’s gravity to swing itself out of the ecliptic plane — the swath of space, roughly aligned with the Sun’s equator, where all planets orbit. From there, Solar Orbiter's bird’s eye view will give it the first-ever look at the Sun's poles.
Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/new-mission-will-take-first-peek-at-sun-s-poles
Video
Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.
Music credits: “Oxide” and “Virtual Tidings” by Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS]; “Progressive Practice” by Emmanuel David Lipszc [SACEM], Franck Lascombes [SACEM], Sebastien Lipszyc [SACEM]; “Political Spectrum” by Laurent Dury [SACEM} from Universal Production Music
Complete transcript available.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
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Animators
- Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Brian Monroe (USRA)
- Chris Smith (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Joy Ng (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Krystofer Kim (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
- Lisa Poje (USRA)
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Data visualizer
- Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
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Writer
- Miles S. Hatfield (Telophase)
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Scientists
- Chris St. Cyr (NASA/GSFC)
- Daniel Mueller (ESA)
- Holly Gilbert (NASA/GSFC)
- Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla (Catholic University of America)
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Producer
- Joy Ng (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Videographers
- John Caldwell (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.)
- Rob Andreoli (Advocates in Manpower Management, Inc.)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Related Pages
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ID: 13535 Produced Video
Solar Orbiter Science Press Briefing
Read moreNASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) will present Solar Orbiter, the ESA/NASA mission to the Sun, during a science press briefing on Friday, Feb. 7. 2020, at 2.30 p.m. EST. Solar Orbiter will observe the Sun with high spatial resolution telescopes and capture observations in the environment directly surrounding the spacecraft to create a one-of-a-kind picture of how the Sun can affect the space environment throughout our solar system. The spacecraft also will provide the first-ever images of the Sun’s poles and the never-before-observed magnetic environment there, which helps drive the Sun’s 11-year solar cycle and its periodic outpouring of solar storms.The teleconference audio will stream live at:https://www.nasa.gov/liveParticipants include:European Space Agency• Daniel Müller, Solar Orbiter Project Scientist• Günther Hasinger, Director of ScienceNASA• Nicky Fox, Heliophysics Division Director, NASA HQ• Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA HQ ||
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ID: 4788 Visualization
The Solar Polar Magnetic Field
Read moreFrom our single vantage point of Earth, our view of the Sun is never complete. While the far-side of the Sun eventually rotates into view, coverage of the Sun's polar regions is never satisfactory as perspective effects either completely block our view or create a distorted view. We must often resort to computer modeling of these solar polar regions.This visualization presents the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) magnetic field model based on solar observations covering the years 2017-2019. One version also presents the 'hole' in our measurements of the solar polar region. The region oscillates in size over the course of the year due to the changing perspective created by the tilt of Earth's orbital plane with the solar equator. In this region, researchers must resort to approximations to build a more complete view of the solar magnetic field.Why is the solar magnetic field in this region important? Because the combined with the outgoing flow of the solar wind, the magnetic field lines from the polar regions curve up, and then back down to near the Sun's equatorial plane, which is still fairly close to the orbital plane of Earth and other planets in our solar system. This gives the Sun's polar magnetic field a significant influence on the space weather impacting Earth and crewed and uncrewed assets around the solar system. ||
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ID: 13509 Produced Video
Solar Orbiter Trailer - Videos in English and Spanish
Read moreMusic: Find Her by Yuri SazonoffAnimation by ESA/ATG MedialabWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. || SolO_Trailer.00_00_48_09.Still001.jpg (1920x1080) [760.6 KB] || SolO_Trailer.00_00_48_09.Still001_searchweb.png (320x180) [123.9 KB] || SolO_Trailer.00_00_48_09.Still001_thm.png (80x40) [8.2 KB] || SolO_Trailer_EnglishV2.mov (1920x1080) [819.6 MB] || SolO_Trailer_EnglishV2.mp4 (1920x1080) [88.9 MB] || SolO_Trailer_EnglishV2.webm (1920x1080) [10.0 MB] || SolO_Trailer_EnglishV2Transcripts.en_US.srt [237 bytes] || SolO_Trailer_EnglishV2Transcripts.en_US.vtt [249 bytes] ||
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ID: 13533 Produced Video
Solar Orbiter Graphics
Read moreCredit: ESA/ATG medialab || ESA_Solo_FacingTheSun_poster.jpg (7016x9933) [12.0 MB] || Credit: ESA/ATG medialab || ESA_Solo_Facing_the_Sun_2_horiz.jpg (3508x2480) [7.6 MB] || Credit: ESA/ATG medialab || ESA_Solo_Facing_the_Sun_2_vertical.jpg (2480x3508) [8.1 MB] || Credit: ESA/ATG medialab || ESA_Solo_Facing_the_Sun_3.jpg (9933x7016) [8.4 MB] ||
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ID: 13534 Produced Video
The Countdown is on for Launch of NASA’s Next Mission to Face the Sun Live Shots
Read moreB-roll and canned interviews will be added by Thursday at 4:00 p.m. ESTSolar Orbiter Will Give Humanity Its First Close-Up Look At The Sun’s Poles || screengrab.png (2306x724) [2.8 MB] || screengrab_print.jpg (1024x321) [99.4 KB] || screengrab_searchweb.png (320x180) [126.2 KB] || screengrab_thm.png (80x40) [8.4 KB] ||
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ID: 4623 Visualization
The Dynamic Solar Magnetic Field with Introduction
Read moreThis narrated visualization transitions from a view of the Sun in visible light, to a view in ultraviolet light showing the plasma flowing along solar magnetic structures, to the underlying magnetic field of the solar photosphere, to a model construction of magnetic fieldlines above the photosphere.This video is also available on our YouTube channel. || SolarMagnetism_UHD3840.04000_print.jpg (1024x576) [198.9 KB] || SolarMagnetism_UHD3840.04000_thm.png (80x40) [6.0 KB] || SolarMagnetism_UHD3840.04000_web.png (320x180) [84.1 KB] || SolarMagnetism_ProRes3_HD1080_p30_Narrated.mov (1280x720) [7.4 GB] || SolarMagnetism_ProRes3_HD1080_p30_Narrated.webm (1280x720) [33.9 MB] || SolarMagnetism_ProRes3_UHD2160_p30_Narrated.mov (3840x2160) [12.8 GB] ||
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ID: 13532 Produced Video
Solar Orbiter's Orbit
Read moreAn animation showing the trajectory of Solar Orbiter around the Sun, highlighting the gravity assist manoeuvres that will enable the spacecraft to change inclination to observe the Sun from different perspectives.During the initial cruise phase, which lasts until November 2021, Solar Orbiter will perform two gravity-assist manoeuvres around Venus and one around Earth to alter the spacecraft’s trajectory, guiding it towards the innermost regions of the Solar System. At the same time, Solar Orbiter will acquire in situ data and characterise and calibrate its remote-sensing instruments. The first close solar pass will take place in 2022 at around a third of Earth’s distance from the Sun.The spacecraft’s orbit has been chosen to be ‘in resonance’ with Venus, which means that it will return to the planet’s vicinity every few orbits and can again use the planet’s gravity to alter or tilt its orbit. Initially Solar Orbiter will be confined to the same plane as the planets, but each encounter of Venus will increase its orbital inclination. For example, after the 2025 Venus encounter it will make its first solar pass at 17º inclination, increasing to 33º during a proposed mission extension phase, bringing even more of the polar regions into direct view. ||
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ID: 20306 Animation
Solar Orbiter - NASA Animations
Read moreSolar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between the European Space Agency and NASA that addresses a central question of heliophysics: How does the Sun create and control the constantly changing space environment throughout the solar system? The Sun creates what’s known as the heliosphere — a giant bubble of charged particles and magnetic fields blown outward by the Sun that stretches more than twice the distance to Pluto at its nearest edge, enveloping every planet in our solar system and shaping the space around us. To understand it, Solar Orbiter will travel as close as 26 million miles from the Sun, inside the orbit of Mercury. There, it will measure the magnetic fields, waves, energetic particles and plasma escaping the Sun while they are in their pristine state, before being modified and mixed in their long journey from the Sun. ||
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ID: 13505 Produced Video
Solar Orbiter - ESA Animations
Read moreSolar Orbiter is an European Space Agency (ESA) mission with strong NASA participation. Its mission is to perform unprecedented close-up observations of the Sun and from high-latitudes, providing the first images of the uncharted polar regions of the Sun, and investigating the Sun-Earth connection. ||
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ID: 20299 Animation
Parker Science Result animations
Read moreOn Dec. 4, 2019, four new papers in the journal Nature describe what scientists working with data from NASA's Parker Solar Probe have learned from this unprecedented exploration of our star — and what they look forward to learning next. These findings reveal new information about the behavior of the material and particles that speed away from the Sun, bringing scientists closer to answering fundamental questions about the physics of our star. These animations represent five of those findings. ||
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ID: 13003 Produced Video
Parker Solar Probe Science Briefing - Visual Resources
Read moreJuly 20, 2018 - Live from NASA Kennedy - 1:00 p.m. ESTHosted by Karen Fox - Heliophysics Communications Lead, NASA Goddard/NASA HQSpeakers:Nicola Fox - Parker Solar Probe Project Scientist, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LabAlex Young - Solar Scientist from NASA GoddardThomas Zurbuchen - Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASABetsy Congdon - Thermal Protection System Engineer at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab ||
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ID: 12329 Produced Video
Snapshots from the Edge of the Sun
Read moreGIF of animated sun with corona and solar wind labels. || coronasolarwind.gif (1041x586) [2.2 MB] ||
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ID: 11742 Produced Video
SDO: Year 5
Read moreHighlights from the Solar Dynamics Observatory's five years of watching the sun.The music is "Expanding Universe" and "Facing the Unknown" both from Killer Tracks.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here.Information about the individual clips used in this video is here.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO || Year_5_STILL_print.jpg (1024x576) [73.2 KB] || Year_5_STILL_1080.jpg (1920x1080) [289.2 KB] || Year_5_STILL_1080.png (1920x1080) [2.2 MB] || Year_5_STILL.jpg (3840x2160) [857.5 KB] || Year_5_STILL.png (3840x2160) [8.1 MB] || Year_5_STILL_thm.png (80x40) [6.0 KB] || Year_5_STILL_searchweb.png (320x180) [31.7 KB] || Year_5_STILL_web.jpg (320x180) [14.0 KB] || SDO-Year_5_Final_appletv.webm (960x540) [35.1 MB] || SDO-Year_5_Final_appletv.m4v (960x540) [123.2 MB] || SDO-Year_5_Final_appletv_subtitles.m4v (960x540) [123.0 MB] || SDO-Year_5_Final_1280x720.wmv (1280x720) [145.5 MB] || 11742_SDO-Year_5_H264_Good_1280x720_2997.mov (1280x720) [737.8 MB] || 11742_SDO-Year_5_MPEG4_1920X1080_2997.mp4 (1920x1080) [373.3 MB] || 11742_SDO-Year_5_H264_Good_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [1.6 GB] || 11742_SDO-Year_5_H264_Best_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [5.1 GB] || 11742_SDO-Year_5_ProRes_1920x1080_2997.mov (1920x1080) [4.0 GB] || 11742_SDO-Year_5.en_US.vtt [1.3 KB] || 11742_SDO-Year_5.en_US.srt [1.3 KB] || SDO-Year_5_Final_ipod_lg.m4v (640x360) [50.5 MB] || SDO-Year_5_Final_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [26.7 MB] ||
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ID: 4124 Visualization
The Sun's Magnetic Field
Read moreDuring the course of the approximately 11 year sunspot cycle, the magnetic field of the Sun reverses. The last time this happened was around the year 2000. Using magnetograms from the SOHO/MDI and SDO/HMI instruments, it is possible to examine possible configurations of the magnetic field above the photosphere. These magnetic configurations are important in understanding potential conditions of severe space weather.The magnetic field in this animation is constructed using the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) model. The PFSS model is one of the simplest yet realistic models we can explore. Using the solar magnetograms as the 'source surface' of the field, it builds the field structure from the photosphere out to about two solar radii (an altitude of 1 solar radius). These visuals were generated using the SolarSoft package. In this visualization, the white magnetic field lines are considered 'closed'. The move up, and then return to the solar surface. The green and violet lines represenent field lines that are considered 'open'. Green represents positive magnetic polarity, and violet represents negative polarity. These field lines do not connect back to the Sun but with more distant magnetic fields in space. These field lines act as easy 'roads' for the high-speed solar wind. ||
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ID: 11429 Produced Video
Sun Magnetic Field Flip Live Shots and Media Resources
Read moreOn Dec. 6, 2013, NASA scientists Alex Young and Holly Gilbert discussed how the sun's magnetic field is in the process of flipping. ||
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ID: 10846 Produced Video
Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) Blast Their Way Through the Solar System
Read moreA coronal mass ejection erupts from the Sun and propagates out through the Solar System. Along the way it is detected by the spacecraft at Jupiter and Saturn. Eventually it is detected by the two Voyager spacecraft beyond the orbit of Pluto. This animation is based on CMEs produced during the Halloween storms of 2003. It is an update to a previous animation. ||
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