Closest pictures of sun ever taken reveal mysterious ‘campfires’
The closest-ever images taken of the sun have revealed mini solar flares called “campfires” dotted across its surface.
The images were captured last month by the Solar Orbiter, a European Space Agency (ESA) probe designed and built in the UK. Scientists say the pictures could shed light on the mysterious process that means the outer layer of the star is so much hotter than the layers below.
The spacecraft came within 47 million miles of the sun’s surface and passed between the orbits of Venus and Mercury.
David Berghmans from the Royal Observatory of Belgium said: “When the first images came the first thought was this is not possible, they cannot be that good, it was really much better than what we dared to hope for.”