Permanent observation of the far side of the Sun not yet possible, scientist says

Permanent observation of the side of the Sun facing away from Earth is not currently possible due to technical and orbital constraints, a Russian scientist said.

Sergey Bogachev, head of the solar astronomy laboratory at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said there are effectively no stable orbits on the far side of the Sun that would allow spacecraft to remain there for extended periods.

He noted that the Sun–Earth system’s L3 Lagrange point lies on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth, but maintaining communication with a spacecraft in that position would require an additional relay system.

Bogachev said the far side of the Sun can only be observed intermittently by spacecraft orbiting the Sun and temporarily moving out of Earth’s direct line of sight.

Such observations were previously carried out by Solar Orbiter, STEREO-A and STEREO-B, though currently active missions are positioned on the Sun-facing side visible from Earth.