NASA Shares First Images from New PUNCH Sun Telescope

NASA has released the first images from its new Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission. These images show large solar eruptions called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) moving through the inner solar system. CMEs are huge bursts of magnetized plasma sent out by the Sun that can affect all the planets. The PUNCH mission’s instruments capture these events in greater detail than previous space observatories.

The new images were shown at the 246th American Astronomical Society meeting held in Anchorage, Alaska. The mission includes four small satellites working together to observe the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona. Three of these satellites have wide-field imagers that watch the corona where the solar wind begins. The solar wind is a steady stream of charged particles that flows throughout the solar system. The fourth satellite uses a narrow-field imager with a coronagraph. This tool blocks the Sun’s bright light to prevent the instrument from being overwhelmed.

The pictures were taken before the satellites reached their final positions in space. When all four spacecraft are in place, their data will combine to act like a single, powerful telescope. This setup will allow continuous 3D views of space weather across the inner solar system. This ability will help scientists better track solar storms that can impact Earth’s technology and infrastructure.

In the first images, planets such as Jupiter and Venus appear alongside the solar eruptions. The Pleiades star cluster and the Orion constellation are also visible. The black spot in the center of the images shows where the coronagraph blocks the Sun’s light. Two other recent missions, India’s Aditya-L1 and the European Space Agency’s PROBA-3, observe closer regions near the Sun. These missions help fill observation gaps and improve understanding of solar activity.

Coronal mass ejections release massive amounts of solar plasma and magnetic fields into space. When directed at Earth, these eruptions can cause geomagnetic storms. Such storms can disrupt satellites, GPS systems, and power grids. By capturing detailed images of CMEs, scientists hope to improve space weather forecasts and better protect technology on Earth.

The PUNCH mission will run for two years, providing continuous data on the Sun’s corona and heliosphere. This will help researchers learn how solar storms form and move through space. The new observations mark a major step forward in understanding how the Sun affects the entire solar system.