Latest news with #EUI
Forbes
27-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Solar Orbiter Sends Back Jaw-Dropping Image Of Sun's Corona
The sun's million-degree hot atmosphere, called the corona, as it looks in ultraviolet light, taken ... More by ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft on March 9, 2025. The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft — launched in February 2020 and taking the first-ever images of the sun at close range — has sent back one of the most detailed images of our star. The widest high-resolution view of the sun so far was assembled from 200 images taken on March 9, 2025, while Solar Orbiter was about 48 million miles (77 million kilometers) from the sun. The sun is 93 million miles (148 million kilometers) from Earth. It shows the sun's hotter outer atmosphere, its corona (crown), the source of the solar wind — a stream of charged particles coming at Earth from the sun — and the space weather that causes geomagnetic storms and aurora. The image captures only ultraviolet — electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than visible light and invisible to the human eye. A composite of the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse. (Photo by: VW Pics/Universal Images Group ... More via Getty Images) The sun's corona is always in the sky, but it's overwhelmed by the sun's photosphere, which is a million times brighter. However, the corona's temperature is around 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit (1 million degrees Celsius), 150 times hotter than the photosphere. Only during the brief 'totality' phase of a total solar eclipse — which lasts only a few minutes and only from a narrow path across Earth's surface — can the corona be glimpsed with the naked eye when it is seen as a halo of whitish light around the moon's silhouette. The brevity of an eclipse makes it difficult for solar physicists to study the corona. However, live images of the sun are streamed back to Earth in real time by NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory. This animation shows how Solar Orbiter obtains its high-resolution full Sun views. Solar Orbiter has six ultraviolet telescopes taking the first observations from close to the sun. Its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) camera captured six images at high resolution and two wide-angle views to create 200 individual images across a 5 x 5 grid. The images were then stitched together to create a giant mosaic. It can be downloaded in spectacular 12544 × 12544 pixels (157 megapixels) quality from the ESA website. It comes the day after the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope — the world's largest solar telescope — on top of the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii produced a spectacular first image of sunspots on the sun. ESA's Solar Orbiter The shape of the corona changes shape throughout the 11-year solar cycle, during which the sun's magnetic activity waxes and wanes between 'solar minimum' and 'solar maximum. Solar Orbiter's image comes as the sun is in its "solar maximum" period, which scientists at NOAA and NASA think began in October 2024. Solar Orbiter's image is essential because solar scientists need to understand what processes on the sun — and chiefly in its corona — cause geomagnetic disturbances on Earth so they can predict them, thus protecting critical infrastructure on Earth and in space. The path of totality sweeps near Iceland and over Spain on August 12, 2026. The next total solar eclipse is on Aug. 12, 2026. It will be seen from within a narrow path of totality that passes through eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain. Totality will last about two minutes. On Aug. 2, 2027, a totality lasting over six minutes will be seen from within a path passing through southern Spain, northern Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The next total solar eclipse in the contiguous U.S. will occur on Aug. 22, 2044. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Stunning new Solar Orbiter images capture explosive activity on the sun
A new series of images from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft is giving scientists the clearest view yet of the sun's volatile lower atmosphere-and unlocking critical insights into the forces behind solar eruptions and space weather. On March 9, 2025, while nearly 48 million miles from the sun, the Solar Orbiter spacecraft was oriented to capture a sweeping view of the solar surface, the European Space Agency noted. Using a 5x5 grid, its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) took six high-resolution images and two wide-angle views at each position. The result was a massive mosaic of 200 images, stitched together to create the widest high-resolution image of the Sun ever captured. "What you see is the Sun's million-degree hot atmosphere, called the corona, as it looks in ultraviolet light," the ESA explained. Astronomers say these images reveal the "middle zone" of the sun, between its stable surface and its erupting outer corona, where magnetic fields twist and plasma eruptions begin. The visible surface of the sun, called the photosphere, is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Strangely, the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere-the corona-is much hotter, regularly reaching between 1.8 million and 3.6 million degrees. In some cases, it can spike as high as 72 million degrees, according to NASA. This superheated outer layer is made of plasma, a hot, electrically charged gas. It's also where powerful solar events like flares and eruptions begin. Scientists hope the data will eventually help explain why the sun's outer atmosphere is millions of degrees hotter than its surface-one of solar physics' biggest mysteries. The images come just as Solar Orbiter enters its closest pass of the sun to date. Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA. A team from University College London is using the data to better understand how solar storms develop. Understanding solar storms is key for improving space weather forecasting on Earth. The same activity that lights up the aurora can also interfere with satellites, GPS systems and power grids.
Saudi Gazette
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Europe maintains fragile democratic stability amid global decline, new study finds
LONDON — Despite divisions between east and west, Europe's standards of functioning democracy remain high, even as global standards decline, according to a study released on Thursday by the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The latest Democracy Index shows that after a year of elections worldwide, global democracy has weakened, with 2024 continuing a trend of "democratic malaise", the report finds. 'While autocracies seem to be gaining strength, as shown by the index trend since 2006, the world's democracies are struggling,' Joan Hoey, director for the Democracy Index said in a release. The annual study assesses five categories — electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, political culture — giving each country a score out of 10. Based on this, countries are classified as full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, or authoritarian regimes. This year, Norway topped the rankings with 9.81, while Afghanistan ranked lowest at 0.25. The sharpest declines were in government functioning and electoral process, with the average for the latter falling by 0.08 points compared to 2023, which the study considers 'was especially disappointing given that so many countries went to the polls in 2024'. Europe presented a mixed picture. Eastern Europe saw a slight decline, while Western Europe improved by a marginal 0.01 points. Nine of the world's top ten democracies are in Europe, with New Zealand the only exception in second place. Western Europe remains the highest-rated region and the only one to recover to pre-pandemic levels. However, the report highlights widespread public discontent, fuelling a shift towards anti-mainstream parties. According to the study, 'this dissatisfaction is fuelling a growing shift towards anti-mainstream parties, a trend widely illustrated by the many elections across the continent in 2024'. It adds that these elections were marked by a clear rejection of incumbent leaders and a surge in support for anti-establishment and populist political forces. There were notable shifts within the region: Portugal was upgraded to a "full democracy", while France slipped into the "flawed" category. Portugal was first downgraded in 2011 and recovered the status of a 'full democracy' in 2019. However, the EUI after considering the limitations on personal freedom resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic downgraded it again in 2020. France has also been close to the threshold score of 8.00 that separates 'full' from "flawed democracies", falling to the second category in 2010-13, 2015-18 and 2020-21, during what the EUI classifies as "periods of political turbulence in which the administration has faced widespread social unrest and/or internal divisions over policy, which undermined governance'. The report concludes that France's downgrade this year reflects a deterioration in the score for confidence in government. Eastern Europe, grouped with Central Asia in the report, saw 'the mildest regression of any region' declining by 0.02 points, to 5.35. This region saw a milestone as the Czech Republic and Estonia were upgraded from 'flawed democracies' to 'full democracies', gaining full democratic rating for the first time since 2013 when Czech Republic fell from the top category. By contrast, this year saw Romania downgraded from 'flawed democracy' to 'hybrid regime' status, after the cancellation of the presidential election resulted in the country dropping 12 places in the ranking. — Euronews
Euronews
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Europe maintains fragile democratic stability amid global decline, new study finds
Despite divisions between east and west, Europe's standards of functioning democracy remain high, even as global standards decline, according to a study released on Thursday by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The latest Democracy Index shows that after a year of elections worldwide, global democracy has weakened, with 2024 continuing a trend of "democratic malaise", the report finds. 'While autocracies seem to be gaining strength, as shown by the index trend since 2006, the world's democracies are struggling,' Joan Hoey, director for the Democracy Index said in a release. The annual study assesses five categories - electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, political culture - giving each country a score out of 10. Based on this, countries are classified as full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, or authoritarian regimes. This year, Norway topped the rankings with 9.81, while Afghanistan ranked lowest at 0.25. The sharpest declines were in government functioning and electoral process, with the average for the latter falling by 0.08 points compared to 2023, which the study considers 'was especially disappointing given that so many countries went to the polls in 2024'. Europe presented a mixed picture. Eastern Europe saw a slight decline, while Western Europe improved by a marginal 0.01 points. Nine of the world's top ten democracies are in Europe, with New Zealand the only exception in second place. Western Europe remains the highest-rated region and the only one to recover to pre-pandemic levels. However, the report highlights widespread public discontent, fuelling a shift towards anti-mainstream parties. According to the study, 'this dissatisfaction is fuelling a growing shift towards anti-mainstream parties, a trend widely illustrated by the many elections across the continent in 2024'. It adds that these elections were marked by a clear rejection of incumbent leaders and a surge in support for anti-establishment and populist political forces. There were notable shifts within the region: Portugal was upgraded to a "full democracy", while France slipped into the "flawed" category. Portugal was first downgraded in 2011 and recovered the status of a 'full democracy' in 2019. However, the EUI after considering the limitations on personal freedom resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic downgraded it again in 2020. France has also been close to the threshold score of 8.00 that separates 'full' from "flawed democracies", falling to the second category in 2010-13, 2015-18 and 2020-21, during what the EUI classifies as "periods of political turbulence in which the administration has faced widespread social unrest and/or internal divisions over policy, which undermined governance'. The report concludes that France's downgrade this year reflects a deterioration in the score for confidence in government. Eastern Europe, grouped with Central Asia in the report, saw 'the mildest regression of any region' declining by 0.02 points, to 5.35. This region saw a milestone as the Czech Republic and Estonia were upgraded from 'flawed democracies' to 'full democracies', gaining full democratic rating for the first time since 2013 when Czech Republic fell from the top category. By contrast, this year saw Romania downgraded from 'flawed democracy' to 'hybrid regime' status, after the cancellation of the presidential election resulted in the country dropping 12 places in the ranking.
