Thread by @ESASolarOrbiter

👋Welcome to the live press briefing with #SolarOrbiter experts presenting the exciting images from the mission captured around its 1st close pass of the #Sun

📨For journalists who have any questions, please send them to [e-mail]

😎Join the conversation via #TheSunUpClose

📷The brand new #SolarOrbiter images that we are going to see today are already the closest ever images of the Sun, captured only 77 million km from our star's surface 👍

#TheSunUpClose

📽️Perihelion animation: esa.int/ESA_Multimedia…

While #SolarOrbiter is taking the closest images of the #Sun, @NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is actually flying much closer. The two missions will work together, collecting complementary data to investigate our nearest star
🛰️🌞🛰️

#TheSunUpClose

Details: esa.int/ESA_Multimedia…

Here they are, the images you all have been waiting for!

Enjoy #TheSunUpClose

esa.int/Science_Explor…

Are you following our live briefing?

Yes, #SolarOrbiter’s first images reveal 'campfires’ on the Sun! 👉esa.int/Science_Explor…

👇These images are from the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument. Credits: Solar Orbiter/EUI Team/ESA & NASA; CSL,IAS,MPS,PMOD/WRC,ROB,UCL/MSSL

#SolarOrbiter carries 10 instruments: 6 remote-sensing ones (or telescopes) that image the Sun and its surroundings + 4 in situ instruments that monitor the environment around the spacecraft. Here is a "family portrait" of the first data!

#TheSunUpClose

esa.int/ESA_Multimedia…

The never-before seen campfires spotted by #SolarOrbiter Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) appear to be ubiquitous miniature eruptions on the Sun. Their nature is still under study, but it is possible they contribute to the coronal heating.

#TheSunUpClose

esa.int/ESA_Multimedia…

Another instrument on #SolarOrbiter, the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI), has been measuring the magnetic field on the surface of the #Sun

#TheSunUpClose

👉esa.int/ESA_Multimedia…

Credit: Solar Orbiter/PHI Team/ESA & NASA

On grander scales, the @MetisSolar coronograph blocks out light from the solar surface, allowing the fainter outer atmosphere of the Sun, the corona, to be seen in visible & ultraviolet light.

#TheSunUpClose

esa.int/ESA_Multimedia…

Credit: Solar Orbiter/Metis Team /ESA & NASA

On even grander scales, the Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) on #SolarOrbiter detects light scattered by electrons in the solar wind, which is thought to originate in the #Sun's corona.

#TheSunUpClose

esa.int/ESA_Multimedia…

Credit: Solar Orbiter/SoloHI Team/ESA & NASA; US NRL

The Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, extends millions of km into outer space. By combining views from different instruments, #SolarOrbiter can probe the solar environment on scales from a few to tens of times the Sun's radius 👇

#TheSunUpClose

esa.int/ESA_Multimedia…

And there is more! #SolarOrbiter combines remote-sensing + in situ measurements, probing the #Sun from afar & the environment around the spacecraft at the same time to study the solar wind.

Here is an example, combining data from SPICE & SWA instruments: esa.int/ESA_Multimedia…

Around #SolarOrbiter's first close approach to the #Sun, scientists could for the first time operate all instruments together. 👇 Data from the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD), Magnetometer (MAG), Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) & X-ray Spectrometer/Telescope (STIX) #TheSunUpClose

This is only the beginning! As #SolarOrbiter proceeds on its journey, it will get much closer to the #Sun & capture even more spectacular views, but the first images are already providing a holistic picture of our star & its environment #TheSunUpClose

📷👉esa.int/Science_Explor…