Soft view from deep space shows Earth, Venus and Mars in one frame

Good, here’s something you don’t all see day.

On November 18, 2020, Solar orbiter managed to capture three of the eight planets in our solar system in a single frame, according to a European Space Agency declaration. The resulting four-second film was stitched together from a series of still images taken across 22 hours.

Venus is the largest and brightest of objects, followed by Earth so what Mars at the bottom right of the frame. What’s especially cool about this vantage point is that the probe looks into the solar system again as it pulls away from the Sun and heads towards Venus.

When the photos were taken, Solar Orbiter was 30 million miles (48 million km) from Venus, 156 million miles (251 million km) from Earth, and 206 million miles (332 million km) from Earth. Of March. The Sun is out of frame in the lower right, but its glow is clearly visible.

The spacecraft, a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, was on his way to Venus for gravitational assistance when the images were taken using his Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) camera. Solar Orbiter finally flew over Venus on December 27. A regular regime of overflights with the Earth and Venus will bring the probe closer to the Sun. and also tilt its axis of orbit so that you can observe the Sun from different angles.

Launched in February 2020 and equipped with 10 different instruments, Solar Orbiter’s mission is to study the Sun up close. The closest images ever taken of the Sun, taken last July, showed hitherto unknown “campfire»On the surface of our star, discovering stellar processes that we only dreamed of in theory.

The probe also studies conditions in its immediate vicinity, namely solar wind, or charged particles, pouring out of the Sun into space. The data obtained will help scientists predict which space weather can adversely affect communications and technology on Earth.