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News and Highlights

Science nugget: Langmuir waves associated with magnetic holes in the solar wind

22 March 2023Langmuir waves are electrostatic waves near the electron plasma frequency, often observed in the solar wind. In a weakly collisional environment, such as the solar wind, wave-particle interactions play a fundamental role in the energy dissipation mechanisms. The study of Langmuir waves is of particular interest, as they could play an important...

Science nugget: Radial dependence of the peak intensity of solar energetic electron events in the inner heliosphere

15 March 2023Observing solar energetic electron (SEE) events with multiple spacecraft at different heliocentric distances is crucial to determine the transport effects of solar particle events. However, the radial dependence of SEE peak intensities is difficult to study due to the simultaneous occurrence of radial and longitudinal effects, which cannot be...

Science nugget: New insights about EUV brightenings in the quiet sun corona from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager

8 March 2023Ever since their detection by Ellerman in 1917 more than a century ago, localised (sub-Mm in diameter) transient (lifetimes of less than 10 minutes) brightenings have been actively studied by the solar physics community. Although such features were originally identified in active regions, where the strong magnetic fields and plasma velocities...

Solar Orbiter’s unprecedented view of the quiet corona

27 October 2022The moment of closest approach took place on 12 October at 19:12 UTC (21:12 CEST), when Solar Orbiter was just 29% of the Earth’s distance from the Sun. This movie comes from 13 October, when the spacecraft’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) returned the highest resolution movie of the quiet corona ever taken with any instrument.

Solar Orbiter solves magnetic switchback mystery

12 September 2022With data from its closest pass of the Sun yet, the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has found compelling clues as to the origin of magnetic switchbacks, and points towards how their physical formation mechanism might help accelerate the solar wind.

Coronal mass ejection hits Solar Orbiter before Venus flyby

5 September 2022In the early hours of Sunday, 4 September, Solar Orbiter flew by Venus for a gravity-assist manoeuvre that alters the spacecraft’s orbit, getting it even closer to the Sun. As if trying to get the orbiter’s attention as it cosied up to another body in the Solar System, the Sun flung an enormous 'coronal mass ejection' straight at the spacecraft...

The Sun as you've never seen it before!

18 May 2022Powerful flares, breathtaking views across the solar poles, and a curious solar ‘hedgehog’ are amongst the haul of spectacular images, movies and data returned by Solar Orbiter from its first close approach to the Sun. Although the analysis of the new dataset has only just started, it is already clear that the ESA-led mission is providing the...

Zooming into the Sun with Solar Orbiter

24 March 2022Solar Orbiter’s latest images shows the full Sun in unprecedented detail. They were taken on 7 March, when the spacecraft was crossing directly between the Earth and Sun at a distance of roughly 75 million kilometres, half way between our world and its parent star. The high-resolution telescope of EUI takes pictures of such high spatial...

Solar Orbiter crosses the Earth-Sun line as it heads for the Sun

7 March 2022The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft is speeding towards its historic first close pass of the Sun. On 14 March, the spacecraft will pass the orbit of Mercury, the scorched inner planet of our Solar System, and on 26 March it will reach closest approach to the Sun. On 26 March, Solar Orbiter will be less than one-third of the distance from the...

Giant solar eruption seen by Solar Orbiter

18 February 2022The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has captured the largest solar prominence eruption ever observed in a single image together with the full solar disc. This latest event took place on 15 February and extended millions of kilometres into space. The coronal mass ejection was not directed at Earth. In fact, it is travelling away from us. There...

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Upcoming Events

17-19 April 2023: Science Working Team (SWT-36) meeting (Paris)

Past Events

15 February 2023: Executive Science Working Team (SWT-35) meeting (online)

16-18 January 2023: Science Operations (SOWG-22) meeting (ESAC, Madrid) and Remote-Sensing Group

31 December 2022: submission deadline for the A&A special issue on "Solar Orbiter First Results: nominal mission phase"

9 December 2022: Review of the SOOPs run at the Oct 2022 perihelion (online)

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