Parker Solar Probe is poised to make the closest approach to the sun attempted by a spacecraft in late December, while Solar Orbiter is tasked with taking the closest-ever images of the sun’s surface. What’s more, the Solar Orbiter and Parker Solar Probe are studying the sun at close distances at an ideal time — during the peak of its annual cycle. “These new high-resolution maps from Solar Orbiter’s PHI instrument show the beauty of the Sun’s surface magnetic field and flows in great detail. A magnetogram shows the line-of-sight direction of the sun's magnetic field, which clusters around sunspots. Experts track increasing solar activity by counting how many sunspots appear on the sun’s surface.

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Persons: Helioseismic, Parker, ”, Daniel Müller, Helioseismic Imager, European Space Agency Mark Miesch, Miesch, “, Elsayed Talaat Organizations: CNN, Solar, Orbiter, European Space Agency, NASA, Probe, Parker, Solar Orbiter, Space Agency, National Oceanic, Prediction, Cooperative Institute for Research, Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Scientists, NOAA