The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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An image of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, taken with the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument onboard Solar Orbiter.
This particular image was taken by EUI’s High Resolution Imager working at the extreme ultraviolet wavelength 17.4 nm (HRIEUV). Taken on 23 February 2021, this image shows 384x384 thousand kilometres of the solar surface. For comparison the diameter of the Earth is 12.7 thousand kilometres.
On 23 February 2021, the Sun’s activity was quiet but HRIEUV still captured comparatively small-scale jet activity on the Sun. This dynamic activity is associated with the so-called campfires, which are miniature solar flares that scientists discovered on the Sun with the EUI instrument shortly after Solar Orbiter’s launch.