Solar Orbiter's First Images | NASA

Solar Orbiter's First Images | NASA

Solar Orbiter's First Images

This animation shows a series of views of the Sun captured with the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on ESA/NASA’s Solar Orbiter on May 30, 2020. 

They show the Sun’s appearance at a wavelength of 17 nanometers, which is in the extreme ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Images at this wavelength reveal the upper atmosphere of the Sun, the corona, with a temperature of around 1 million degrees. 

EUI takes full disk images (first in the sequence) using the Full Sun Imager (FSI) telescope, as well as high resolution images using the HRIEUV telescope.

On May 30, Solar Orbiter was roughly halfway between the Earth and the Sun, meaning that it was closer to the Sun than any other solar telescope has ever been before. This allowed EUI to see features in the solar corona of only about 250 miles across. As the mission continues, Solar Orbiter will go closer to the Sun and  this will increase the instrument’s resolving power by a factor of two at closest approach.

The color on these images has been artificially added because the original wavelength detected by the instrument is invisible to the human eye. 

View all of Solar Orbiter's first images on NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.

Credits: Solar Orbiter/EUI Team (ESA & NASA); CSL, IAS, MPS, PMOD/WRC, ROB, UCL/MSSL

Last Updated: July 21, 2020

Editor: Miles Hatfield