These images are the first time we have seen the sun’s south pole

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, a joint mission between the European Space Agency and NASA, is the first to venture into a tilted orbit around the sun, letting it take some unusual pictures

By Alex Wilkins

11 June 2025

The south pole of the sun has never been seen before

ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/PHI Team, J. Hirzberger (MPS)

We have seen the sun’s south pole for the first time, courtesy of the pioneering Solar Orbiter spacecraft. These images and other measurements should help us refine forecasts of the sun’s activity.

Taking a picture of the solar poles is harder than it sounds, because to do so a spacecraft must leave the ecliptic plane, a flat disc around the sun in which almost every object in the solar system orbits. The Solar Orbiter, a joint mission between the European Space Agency and NASA, has done just that. Launched in 2020, it has gradually been tilting its orbit and has now reached a sufficiently steep angle to glimpse the sun’s never-before-seen polar regions.

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ESA has now released the first pictures of the sun’s south pole, taken between March, when the spacecraft was orbiting at an angle 15 degrees below the ecliptic plane, and today, when it reached 17 degrees below.

Seeing the images for the first time felt special, says Lucie Green at University College London, who helped develop the Solar Orbiter. “It felt like we’re at a privileged time that these previously hidden areas are now available to us.”