The "Great Bear" of the constellation Ursa Major will become visible around the time Mercury slips out of view, with the ...

The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft returns first-ever data of the Sun collected from a 17-degree tilted ...

That is because Earth, the other solar system planets, and all other modern spacecraft orbit the sun in a flat disc around it called the "ecliptic plane." This European Space Agency (ESA) sun-orbiting ...

The Solar Orbiter spacecraft, a joint mission between the European Space Agency and NASA, is the first to venture into a ...

The European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter captured the first-ever images of the sun's south pole in March, which were released this week.

For the first time in history, we re seeing the Sun from an angle no one ever has: from above and below its poles. Thanks to ...

Escaping the ecliptic plane takes some doing, by which I mean a lot of very expensive rocket fuel. The Solar Orbiter used Venus's gravity to help pull it out of the usual equatorial orbit around ...

We Earthlings see the sun every day of our lives—but gaining a truly new view of our star is a rare and precious thing. So ...

Until now. In March, a spacecraft captured the first-ever clear images of the sun's south pole, which the European Space Agency released Wednesday, June 11. “We reveal humankind’s first-ever ...

In the visualization below, the Galactic plane (in blue) can be seen running horizontally across the plot, with the ecliptic plane tilted along the spiral's main axis. While it isn't shown, the ...

This is due to the ecliptic plane, the path along which the planets orbit the sun. What happens after February? The seven-planet alignment ends after Feb. 28 as Saturn moves out of view.

This is due to the ecliptic plane, the path along which the planets orbit the sun. What happens after February? The seven-planet alignment ends after Feb. 28 as Saturn moves out of view.