The first ever video and images of the Sun’s south pole have been sent back to Earth by the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft.
The new images will enable scientists to learn how the Sun cycles between periods of raging storms and quiet times.
This is important because intense solar activity can affect satellite communication and knock out power grids on Earth.
The new images show a shimmering bright atmosphere which in parts reaches temperatures of a million degrees Celsius. Interspersed are darker clouds of gas, which although much cooler, are still a searing one hundred thousand degrees.
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