Solar probes follow hyperactive sunspot region through three full rotations

Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 06, 2026
The sun rotates about once every 28 days, so active regions on its surface are usually visible from Earth for only around two weeks before they move out of view behind the limb. Ioannis Kontogiannis, a solar physicist at ETH Zurich and the Istituto ricerche solari Aldo e Cele Dacco (IRSOL) in Locarno, notes that ESA's Solar Orbiter mission, launched in 2020, has extended this viewing window by o