The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter has captured and sent back the first-ever images and video of the Sun’s south pole, offering groundbreaking insights into the Sun’s behavior.

These closest, most detailed images will help scientists understand how solar magnetic fields shift and trigger powerful storms that can disrupt satellites and power grids on Earth.

The data fills a key gap in solar science by showing how magnetic fields migrate toward the poles and flip every 11 years, causing chaotic solar activity, the BBC has reported.

The mission aims to improve space weather forecasting by modeling the Sun’s behavior, with early findings already revealing how solar particles move and are ejected into space.

Written by B.C. Begley