New Delhi: Scientists have released their first striking images from NASA’s Punch (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, which was launched in March 2025 to change people’s understanding g of the Sun’s outer atmosphere and its impact on the solar system. The Punch mission consists of four suitcase-sized satellites orbiting in a synchronised formation, working together as a single virtual instrument to capture three-dimensional images of the solar phenomena.
The latest unveiled images reveal colossal solar eruptions, known as coronal mass ejections, streaming outward from the Sun and traversing the inner solar system. In one video, Coronal Mass Ejection appears as an expanding halo around the Sun, dramatically illustrating the immense scale and energy of these solar storms.
The Punch satellites advanced wide-field images allow scientists to track these eruptions in unprecedented detail, following their journey from the solar corona, the sun’s outer atmosphere, into the solar wind that fills the solar system.
One Unique aspect of the Punch mission is its ability to provide a continuous, global 3D perspective, which is essential for understanding and forecasting space weather. The images also show the field of view of LASCO C3, an earlier coronagraph still used for space weather predictions, helping scientists compare new and legacy data.
The impact of the Coronal Mass Ejections on the earth is visible as sudden brightening caused by auroras and radiation effects that momentarily affect the Punch cameras. These preliminary movies show that Punch can actually track space weather across the solar system and view the corona and solar wind as a single system, said Dr. Craig DeForest, principal investigator for Punch.
The mission’s data will help scientists better predict space weather events, which can disrupt communication, threaten satellites, and create spectacular auroras on Earth. As Punch enters full operation, even more detailed and comprehensive observations are expected in the coming months.
