For the first time ever, the Solar Orbiter probe, launched by NASA and the European Space Agency, has captured video footage of two solar eruptions on the sun’s surface.
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00:00For the first time ever, the Solar Orbiter probe, launched by NASA and the European Space Agency,
00:10has captured video footage of two solar eruptions on the Sun's surface.
00:15These eruptions, called coronal mass ejections or CMEs, are powerful enough to propel billions of tons of plasma through space towards Earth.
00:25To capture video footage, the Solar Orbiter made a flyby past the Sun, flying within 48 million miles of the star's surface.
00:33That's half the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
00:37Although CMEs are beautiful to watch, they can brew dangerous storms.
00:42A 1989 solar storm knocked Quebec's power out for nine hours,
00:47and another storm may have cut off SOS signals from the Titanic as it sank in 1917.
00:54Because the Sun's activity has such a big influence on the entire solar system,
00:59the Solar Orbiter's mission will help scientists learn more about our blazing ball of fire.
01:05The Sun is entering a new 11-year cycle, meaning that eruptions like these will occur more frequently, reaching a peak in 2025.
01:13During this time, over the next six years, the Solar Orbiter is set to travel even closer to the Sun than Mercury,
01:20flying within 26 million miles from the surface.
01:24It will also venture closer to the solar poles and send the first-ever images of the solar poles back to Earth.
01:31By being closer to the star, the Solar Orbiter will help scientists get closer to answering the mysteries of our Sun.
01:38We'll be right back to a second.
01:39We'll be right back to a second.
01:40And we'll be right back to a second.
01:41This is the New York Post and the Solar Orbiter will help us as a full-time