NASA and the European Space Agency are teaming up to send out a space probe that will explore the north and the south poles of the sun. A probe called the Solar Orbiter is set to launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on February 10. The probe will make its way to the sun on a journey that will see the craft arrive at its ultimate destination sometime in late 2021.
The Solar Orbiter will not fly directly to the sun. In order to gain the correct orbit around the sun, the probe will make several flights around Venus. The gravity of Venus will create a slingshot effect that will eventually allow the probe to be placed in an elliptical orbit around the sun.
The purpose of the Solar Orbiter is to examine the structure of the sun’s poles. Scientists have the expectation that the poles will look much different than the visible portions of the sun that scientists can see from the earth. For instance, scientists believe that there are coronal holes at both the north and south solar poles. These holes are believed to have less density than the rest of the sun. Scientists believe that these coronal holes will appear as dark areas on the sun’s surface.
In addition to searching for coronal holes at the sun’s poles, the Solar Orbiter will be taking pictures of sunspot activity. The probe will also be checking for the speed of the solar winds. The orbit of the probe will allow scientists to see sunspots as they initially develop. These sunspots will then be tracked until they vanish. This will allow scientists to help determine why sunspots originate and why they eventually die out.
Scientists are extremely excited about the images that the Solar Orbiter will return to earth. They believe that the images will go a long way toward inspiring people to become more interested in science and the study of astronomy.
