The team published their findings and the entire study on the website of the American Physical Society Letters. “Not only does this milestone allow us to look deeper into the Sun and its impact on the solar system, but we also get information about other stars throughout the universe,” he added.
Thanks to everyone who sent their name to the Sun with Parker #SolarProbe! The final count is in — the spacecraft will carry 1,137,202 names on its journey to the Sun. https://t.co/QdUW8wyCSm pic.twitter.com/hyolAexRfs
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) April 28, 2018
Parker’s solar probe departed on a mission in 2018. Its goal was to orbit the Sun and get closer with each flight to collect samples and information.
The probe is named after astrophysicist Evžen Parker. He and his colleagues hope that the probe will answer their questions about the solar wind that flows from the Sun and throws energy particles across the entire solar system.
Hell’s mission
The probe flew through the solar corona, or the upper atmosphere of the Sun. It is much hotter than its surface, which is almost six thousand degrees Celsius.
Time to get cold! And then hot. Then cold again. I’ve entered the thermal vacuum chamber at @NASAGoddard to simulate the extreme conditions I’ll endure in space https://t.co/gUdWSh7jDl pic.twitter.com/T59YRe39pp
— Parker Solar Probe (@ParkerSunProbe) January 18, 2018
Even though the goal has only been achieved now, the probe has already made some interesting discoveries. In 2019, she spotted magnetic zigzag structures in the solar wind that look like road serpentines. Thanks to the mission, scientists can now say that these serpentines come from the surface of the Sun.
Before Parker’s solar probe returns to Earth, it will approach the star twenty-one more times over the next seven years. In 2024, it will orbit the Sun at a distance of 6.2 million kilometers, which is closer than the planet Mercury. Although it may seem like a long distance, scientists liken it only to a football field.
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The moment the probe approaches the Sun at the shortest distance, 11-centimeter carbon shields will have to withstand temperatures over 1,300 degrees Celsius. Even so, the room temperature will remain at a comfortable temperature.
Because it flies so close, the Parker team can examine the magnetically controlled layer of its atmosphere. “Nothing like this has been possible so far,” said scientist Nour Raouafi.
Solar radiation and solar wind
The team first realized that their probe had crossed the line and entered the solar atmosphere in April this year. This happened during the eighth flyby of the Sun, when it registered magnetic and particle conditions that are specific to the boundary of the solar atmosphere.
The flight was 13 million kilometers above the surface of the Sun, where the massive sunlight ends and the solar wind begins. “We firmly expected that one day we would fly through the corona, at least for a while,” said the study’s lead author Justin Kasper. He is very excited about their success.
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During the April flyby, the probe sank and emitted from the atmosphere. As a result, the researchers found that its border was not a continuous circle, but had protrusions and depressions. These elements could allow scientists to compare them with solar activity from the star’s surface.
During its flight, the spacecraft encountered another interesting phenomenon. At an altitude of 10.4 million kilometers, it flew through a unit called experts by a pseudostreamer. It is a large structure that rises above the surface of the Sun and can be observed from Earth during its eclipse.
“As Parker Solar Probe passed through the corona on encounter nine, the spacecraft flew by structures called coronal streamers. These structures can be seen as bright features moving upward in the upper images and angled downward in the lower row.” pic.twitter.com/3pnh4kXA33
— Sulphurcocky??? (@Sulphurcocky1) December 14, 2021
The moment the probe flew through this unit, everything around it was calmer. Under normal circumstances, Parker is bombarded with particles as the solar wind passes, but in this case they moved more slowly and the serpentines were less sharp.
The probe is likely to plunge back into the corona in February during its next flyby. “I’m excited about what else Parker will find when he repeatedly flies through the corona in the years to come,” said Nicola Fox, director of heliophysics at NASA.
Thanks to everyone who sent their name to the Sun with Parker #SolarProbe! The final count is in — the spacecraft will carry 1,137,202 names on its journey to the Sun. https://t.co/QdUW8wyCSm pic.twitter.com/hyolAexRfs
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) April 28, 2018
When the culmination of the eleven-year solar cycle comes, scientists assume that the probe will be in the right place at the right time. It is important to understand these cycles because storms or eruptions on the Sun affect electrical networks, satellites, GPS, aircraft or rockets, and astronauts in space.
The current cycle began in 2019 and should culminate in July 2025, when solar activity will be most intense. This will give the probe the opportunity to examine the extended corona and spend more time in it. “It is an important area to reach. We think that all kinds of physics can apply in the process, “Kasper said. He hopes to see some of them sooner.
It’s #SunDay! ☀️ Check out this thread about how we keep an eye on the Sun’s activity. #spaceweather https://t.co/hzfjofX8A1
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) November 12, 2017
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