Solar Orbiter Captures Highest Resolution Image of the Full Sun Ever Taken

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sun-explorer Solar Orbiter’s newest images show the full sun in amazing, unprecedented detail. These images were taken on March 7th, 2022 as the spacecraft was crossing directly between the Earth and Sun.

Artist concept of Solar Orbiter in front of the Sun. ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission will face the Sun from within the orbit of Mercury at its closest approach. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

One of the images taken by the ESA’s Solar Orbiter includes the highest resolution image of the Sun’s full disc and the corona (the Sun’s outer atmosphere), ever taken. This image was captured by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI). This image was taken at a wavelength of 17 nanometers, which is the extreme ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The EUI image is a stunning mosaic of 25 individual images that allow the Sun’s corona to be visible in detail never before seen. The final image contains more than 83 million pixels and has a resolution 10 times better than what a 4K TV screen is capable of displaying. This image took around 4 hours to complete, with each tile taking 10 minutes to capture.

Image of the full Sun taken by EUI. For a full-resolution version of this image that you can zoom in on, click here. Credit: ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/EUI team; Data processing: E. Kraaikamp (ROB)

Another image taken by the Solar Orbiter includes one taken by the Spectral Imaging of the Coronal Environment (SPICE) instrument. This image was taken at…