Video: Solar Orbiter speeds toward its next rendezvous with the sun

The ESA-led Photo voltaic Orbiter mission arrives at its subsequent shut method to the sun on 12 October 2022 at 19:12 UTC (21:12 CEST). This sequence of photos exhibits the progress of the ESA/NASA spacecraft because it heads inwards on its voyage of discovery. The sequence begins on 20 September and finishes on 10 October.

The sequence was taken by the Excessive Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) utilizing the Full sun Imager (FSI) telescope, and exhibits the sun at a wavelength of 17 nanometers. This wavelength is emitted by gasoline within the sun’s ambiance with a temperature of round a million levels. The colour on this picture has been artificially added as a result of the unique wavelength detected by the instrument is invisible to the human eye.

A lot of contemporary society depends on spacecraft in orbit round Earth to supply important communications and navigation. Understanding extra concerning the sun and the “space climate” it generates will assist corporations function their satellites round Earth safely and securely.

In direction of the tip of the sequence, the picture seems to leap barely. This occurs on the times that EUI was not returning knowledge to Earth. The coloured bar on the high of the picture exhibits the spectacular quantity of knowledge collected on this interval, along with these temporary gaps within the knowledge protection.

Relying on the place Photo voltaic Orbiter is alongside its orbit, it could take days or perhaps weeks for the information it information to be transmitted again to Earth. Information from the present perihelion passage is downlinked inside a few weeks of it being collected.