This spacecraft approaches the Sun, a distance of 8.5 million km with a temperature of 1,400 degrees Celsius

FLORIDA – Spaceship The Parker Solar Probe made its 14th flyby from the sun on Sunday, December 11, 2022. The spacecraft NASA it passes through the sun’s surface, known as the photosphere, at a distance of about 8.5 million km.

Quoted from Space.com on Monday (12/12/2022), the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft mission as part of an ongoing quest to unravel the mysteries of the sun. This maneuver defies intense radiation and extreme heat to gather data about the sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona.

Hence precise observations from the closest distance to the sun or perihelion. The Parker Solar probe spacecraft traveled at an incredible speed of approximately 586,829 km/h.

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Surprisingly, this speed, 200 times faster than a bullet fired from a pistol, is not a record speed for the aircraft. On November 21, 2021, Parker Solar Probe achieved a slightly higher speed of 586,000 km/h, during its tenth flyby of the sun.

This marks Parker Solar Probe’s fastest spacecraft, though that record is set to be broken again. During the flyby, Parker Solar Probe advanced close to the sun, eventually passing the sun as close as possible at a distance of 6,115,500 km.

It is 7 times closer to the sun than previous probes and almost 10 times closer to the sun than the innermost planet, Mercury. The Parker Solar Probe spacecraft faces temperatures up to 1,400 degrees Celsius.

To withstand these extreme conditions, Parker Solar Probe features a 11.43cm thick carbon composite shield that maintains its scientific payload at room temperature. One of Parker Solar Probe’s main goals is to study the corona, the outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere.

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Next, gather data that may help solve one of the oldest mysteries about the sun. Why is the atmosphere hotter than the surface?

Stellar physics theory states that the deeper the plasma of the star, the pressure increases and the star gets hotter. However, the crown challenges this theory.

Though thin and diffuse, the plasma in this layer is hotter than that on the sun’s surface, the photosphere below the corona. Temperatures in the corona rise to 1.1 million degrees Celsius and above, despite being 1,600 km below it.

While the photosphere is 10 million times denser and reaches a temperature of only 5,500 degrees Celsius. The Parker Solar Probe was sent to the sun because Corona is difficult to study from Earth.

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The light they emit is swept away by much more intense light from the photosphere. This means that the corona is only visible during a total solar eclipse, when the moon blocks light from the photosphere.

Parker Solar Probe will make its next 15th closest approach to the sun on March 17, 2023. It will be approximately 8.5 million km above the sun’s surface.

(wib)