EUI

Solar snake spotted slithering across Sun’s surface

Solar Orbiter has spotted a ‘tube’ of cooler atmospheric gases snaking its way through the Sun’s magnetic field. The observation provides an intriguing new addition to the zoo of features revealed by the ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission, especially since the snake was a precursor to a much larger eruption.

Close-up of the Sun

The ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission has experienced its second close encounter with the Sun. It is delivering more stunning data, and at higher resolution than ever before!

And so they meet again…

Solar Orbiter speeds towards its next rendezvous with the Sun on the evening of October 12.

Come to ROB to study EUV brightenings with EUI

The Royal Observatory of Belgium hires a full-time scientific collaborator, who will play a central role in ROB’s research on campfires.

The EUI telescope causes a revolution in solar physics

On March 26, 2022, the Solar Orbiter satellite came closer to the Sun than ever before. A particularly exciting moment. The images of this closest approach -the perihelion-, taken by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on board are will revolutionize solar physics!

A Patchwork Image of the Sun

On 7 March, 2022, the high-resolution telescope of the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) onboard the Solar Orbiter spacecraft made a mosaic image of the solar disk. Over a period of more than 4 hours, the satellite aimed at different positions each time capturing a small square of the Sun at very high resolution. These images were then stitched together like a patchwork. The result was an extremely detailed image of the entire Sun.

Unique images of a solar cloud

On February 15, 2022, an immense cloud escaped from the sun. The space telescope EUI onboard the Solar Orbiter satellite could capture the solar cloud while it was hurled into space.

Solar Orbiter returns to Earth for a last goodbye

On 27 November 2021, the Solar Orbiter spacecraft returns from its voyages in deep space, and will pass at only a few hundred kilometers above the Earth's surface. This manoeuvre is needed to get Solar Orbiter in a new orbit to go yet closer to the Sun. During this flyby, Solar Orbiter unfortunately needs to cross the clouds of space junk that surround Earth, making it a risky visit to our planet.