Good, Here’s something you don’t see day.
On 18 November 2020, Solar Orbiter managed to capture three of the eight planets of our solar system in a single frame, according to a European space agency statement. The resulting four-second film was sewn together from a series of still images 22 hours.
Venus is the largest and brightest of objects, followed by Earth and then Mars in the lower right of the frame. What is particularly interesting in this regard is that the probe looks back at the solar system as it moves away from the Sun and toward Venus.
When the photos were taken, the Solar Orbiter was 30 million miles (48 million km) from Venus, 156 million miles (251 million km) from Earth, and 206 million miles (332 million km) from Mars. The sun is out of the lower right frame, but its brightness is clearly visible.
The spacecraft, a collaboration between NASA and European Space-bar Agency, was on its way to Venus for gravitational help when the images were taken using his camera Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI). Solar Orbiter finally flew past Venus on December 27th. A constant diet of flybys with Earth and Venus will bring the probe closer to the Sun. and also tilts the axis of the orbit so that it can observe the Sun from different angles.
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Launched in February 2020 and equipped with 10 different instruments, Solar Orbiter is a mission to study the Sun up close. The closest images ever taken of the Sun, taken in July last year, showed previously unknown “campfires“On the surface of our star, discovering stellar processes dreamed only theoretically.
The probe is also studying the conditions in its immediate vicinity, namely the solar wind or charged particles, which flow from the Sun into space-bar. The resulting data will help scientists predict unpleasant space weather that can be harmful communications and technology on Earth.