Behold! Humanity has captured our first look at the Sun's South Pole

Occupants of planet Earth can’t see the Sun’s poles – unless they look at images the Solar Orbiter spacecraft has just sent home.

The Orbiter, a joint NASA/European Space Agency project, lifted off in 2020.

The craft helped solar boffins to discover that Sol’s north and south magnetic poles are both on the southern side of the star, as seen from Earth. Scientists don’t know why and ESA rates the current state of our Sun’s magnetic field as "a mess."

Given the Sun’s importance to life on Earth, scientists are keen to know more.

"The Sun is our nearest star, giver of life and potential disruptor of modern space and ground power systems, so it is imperative that we understand how it works and learn to predict its behavior,” said Professor Carole Mundell, ESA's Director of Science in a statement.

Mundell hailed the ...