Solar Orbiter Data Overview#

Solar Orbiter is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission dedicated to studying the Sun and the heliosphere. It carries ten scientific instruments to observe the Sun’s surface, corona, and the surrounding space environment. This page provides an overview of Solar Orbiter data products and how to access them.

Solar Orbiter Instruments#

Solar Orbiter carries ten scientific instruments, classified as remote-sensing or in-situ instruments.

Instrument

Description

EUI (Extreme Ultraviolet Imager)

Captures high-resolution images of the solar corona in extreme ultraviolet.

Metis (Visible Light and UV Coronagraph)

Observes the solar corona in visible and ultraviolet light.

PHI (Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager)

Measures the Sun’s magnetic field and helioseismic activity.

SoloHI (Heliospheric Imager)

Images the solar wind and transient disturbances like coronal mass ejections.

SPICE (Spectral Investigation of the Coronal Environment)

Analyzes the plasma properties of the solar atmosphere via EUV spectroscopy.

STIX (Spectrometer Telescope for Imaging X-rays)

Detects X-ray emissions to study solar flares.

EPD (Energetic Particle Detector)

Measures the properties of energetic particles in the solar wind.

MAG (Magnetometer)

Measures the magnetic field in the solar wind.

RPW (Radio and Plasma Waves)

Observes radio emissions and plasma waves in the solar wind.

SWA (Solar Wind Analyser)

Analyzes the properties of solar wind particles.

More details about each instrument can be found in the Instrument Documentation.

Solar Orbiter Data Products#

Solar Orbiter data is publicly available via the Solar Orbiter Archive (SOAR).

Each instrument provides different levels of processed data:

  • Level 0: Raw instrument data.

  • Level 1: Calibrated and corrected data.

  • Level 2: Fully processed, ready-to-use data.

Accessing Solar Orbiter Data#

The easiest way to access Solar Orbiter data is through SunPy’s Fido search interface.

Example query:

from sunpy.net import Fido, attrs as a
import sunpy_soar  # Registers the SOAR data source

# Search for EUI 174 Å images in a given time range
results = Fido.search(a.Time("2023-01-01", "2023-01-02"),
                      a.soar.Product("EUI-FSI174-IMAGE"),
                      a.Level(2))

print(results)

To learn more, see the Example Gallery.