Our sun spins on its axis about once every 28 days. Because of that, any active region can be watched from earth for only around two weeks before it turns out of view, then it stays hidden for roughly another two weeks on the far side.

“Fortunately, the Solar Orbiter mission, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2020, has broadened our perspective,” says Ioannis Kontogiannis, solar physicist at ETH Zurich and the Istituto ricerche solari Aldo e Cele Daccò (IRSOL) in Locarno.