Jakarta –
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe probe flew through a major solar eruption and captured all the moments with cameras. This is the first close-up recording to capture this kind of solar explosion.
The video, released by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, shows a very powerful coronal mass ejection (CME) that occurred last year.
CMEs are large explosions of superhot plasma that come out of the Sun’s atmosphere. They consist of charged particles that could trigger radio blackouts and cause other chaos if they hit Earth.
NASA said that the CME that hit the Parker Solar Probe was one of the most powerful coronal mass ejections ever recorded.
Luckily for scientists studying the Sun, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe flew through the CME and survived, capturing the event on camera. (The eruption starts at about 14 seconds in the video below)
According to the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, CMEs can fire magnetic fields that sometimes eject billions of tons of plasma at speeds of 60 to 1,900 miles per second.
“As for what happened last September, Parker recorded particle speeds of up to 840 miles per second,” according to Johns Hopkins. This data can help physicists understand what drives CMEs and sends particles at high speeds.
Parker Solar Probe mission touches the Sun
The Parker Solar Probe was specifically designed to study the Sun. NASA said the Parker Solar Probe was not only the fastest in history, but also the closest to the Sun, within 4 million miles of its surface, and survived the journey.
“We’ve known from the start that the Parker Solar Probe would fly through a CME,” said Jim Kinnison, Parker Solar mission systems engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, as quoted by Science Alert.
“NASA designed the spacecraft to be able to withstand hot temperatures near the Sun. This spacecraft is equipped with a special heat shield and an autonomous system that protects the device from solar light emissions,” explained NASA.
When the Parker Solar Probe first detected the CME, it was about 9.7 million miles from the surface of the Sun. Then, the probe moved after the CME shock wave occurred. The Parker probe spent nearly two days studying this particular CME and emerged unscathed.
The role of space dust in CMEs
During the same CME, NASA researchers also observed how storms affect interplanetary dust, namely particles floating in space.
They hope learning more about these interactions will help them better predict space weather in the future.
“Does interplanetary dust affect the shape of a CME? Does it affect its speed? We’re just starting to understand that it does,” said Russ Howard, a physicist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
The Parker Solar Probe mission has given scientists glimpses of other solar phenomena, including a glimpse into the source of the solar wind.
Watch the video “The First Portrait Captured by China’s Solar Exploration Satellite”
(rns/rns)
2023-09-21 04:45:35
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