London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025

Incredible closest-ever PHOTOS show Sun ablaze with smaller fires, fueling theories about its intensely hot atmosphere

Scientists have been blown away by the stunning details revealed in the closest images ever captured of our star. Taken by the ESA’s Sun Orbiter satellite, they reveal the star is even more fiery than was previously thought.

Mere months after launch, the spacecraft has already travelled within 77 million kilometers (48 million miles) of the Sun's surface – roughly half the distance between the star and Earth. The images were snapped as the satellite traveled between the orbits of Venus and Mercury and reached a point known as the ‘perihelion’ (the position in its elliptical orbit when it comes closest to the Sun).

In a statement to the press on Thursday, David Berghmans, principal investigator of the orbiter’s extreme ultraviolet imager instrument, told of his disbelief at the quality of the images the satellite had captured.



“When the first images came in, my first thought was this is not possible, it can’t be that good,” said Berghmans. “It was much better than we dared to hope for.”

The shots, taken by the ultraviolet imager on May 30 and released on July 16, revealed a fiery hellscape of smaller solar flares, thought to be caused by interactions in the Sun’s magnetic fields. It is thought that these ‘campfires’ – smaller in scope by a magnitude of millions and billions than the solar flares we see from Earth – could be part of the reason why the sun’s outer atmosphere, or ‘corona’, is three hundred times hotter than its core.

The region’s intense heat has long left scientists puzzled as to why it is hotter than the actual surface.

The Solar Orbiter project is designed to help scientists better understand the Sun’s atmospheric layers, as well as analyze the solar wind – a stream of charged particles released from the corona. It’s thought that this wind is what defines phenomena such as comets’ tails, and that it carries the Sun’s radiation. By monitoring the solar wind, scientists hope we can better prepare for space weather events that could damage our electronic infrastructure here on Earth as they interact with our planet’s magnetosphere.

Higher resolution images of the Sun have previously been captured here on Earth, but they lack certain details due to our planet’s atmosphere filtering out some ultraviolet and x-ray wavelengths. In space, no such restrictions exist.

“Because Solar Orbiter is at a different angle to the Sun than Earth, we could actually see one active region that wasn’t observable from Earth. That is a first. We have never been able to measure the magnetic field at the back of the Sun,” said Sami Solanki, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen.

Within the next two years, the solar explorer is due to come within 42 million kilometers of the Sun, and the researchers are already excited about what it may reveal next. “We are all really excited about these first images – but this is just the beginning,” said Solar Orbiter project scientist Daniel Müller.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×