No one had ever done this trip before!
For the first time in history, our Sun receives a visit – from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe! It flew into the Sun’s upper atmosphere (also known as the corona, Latin for “corona”), where it “touched” for the first time and documented the particles and magnetic fields orbiting around them. The breakthrough that came at a conference American Geophysical Union Sent.
For the probe, the encounter was extremely hot: the temperature of the corona was estimated at two million degrees and more – while the temperature was noticeably “colder” on the Sun’s surface by about 6000 degrees.
Images taken by the probe during its journey through the corona have now been published: a shimmering structure can be seen above it, the so-called “false dreamer”. It is a long, luminous beam that radiates from the sun. Probes fly above, below, and around the banner.
NASA investigations captured these “false dreamer” images. It is a large structure that rises above the sun’s surface and can even be observed from Earth – during a solar eclipseFoto: – / db a
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Sunde has been on the road for three years
“Probe that touches the sun – a dream has come true,” he said. project leader Nour Al-Rawafi of Johns Hopkins University.
The Parker Solar Probe launched in August 2018 aboard a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida toward our central star. In April 2021, it reached its goal, falling into the Sun’s corona at a distance of about 13 million km from the center of the Sun, which is characterized by a non-uniform structure with peaks and valleys. According to scientists, the probe entered and exited at least three times.
The probe is planned to approach the Sun in another spiral path – even the shortest distance is about 6.2 million km above the Sun’s surface. This is the blueprint for 2025.
According to scientists, the fact that the photos have only been published now is due to the fact that the data took several months to return to Earth. Besides, it took another month to evaluate it. Al-Rawafi’s project manager was surprised that the weather was “dusier” than expected in Corona.
Illustration of Parker Solar Probe. Unlike the Earth, the Sun does not have a solid surface, but a very hot atmosphere made of solar materialPhoto: Steve Gribben / AP
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A thick heat shield protects the probe
For the first time, NASA is naming a probe after a living scientist: astrophysicist Eugene Parker, 89, who teaches at the University of Chicago. The probe, weighing about 700 kilograms, is loaded with high-tech instruments and protected from extreme temperatures by a special cooling system and a carbon heat shield (twelve centimeters thick with a reflective ceramic coating). The probe should not heat up more than 30 degrees.
Milestones in solar energy research
Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s director of science, said loudly that the probe’s connection to the Sun was a “tremendous moment for solar research and a truly remarkable achievement.” “astropage.eu”. “This achievement not only gives us deeper insight into the evolution of our sun and its influence on our solar system. Everything we learn about our stars also teaches us more about stars throughout the universe.”
Researchers hope to find answers to questions such as why the corona around the sun is warmer than its surface, or how the flow of particles we know as the solar wind occurs. They can interfere with satellites and even affect power grids and communications systems on Earth. The probe is expected to be put into service by 2025. (bk)
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