One step closer to the sun! What the Parker Solar Probe tells us about the sun
NASA's Parker Solar Probe has beamed back its preliminary findings to Earth, providing a new perspective on our understanding of stars.
Provided by NASA's Space Science and Astronomy Directorate
On August 12, 2018, a small spacecraft the size of a car began its incredible journey A journey to the surface of the sun. NASA's Parker Solar Probe, designed to penetrate deep into the sun's atmosphere, is about 4 million miles from the sun's surface, closer to our star than any other spacecraft.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket
Parker Solar Probe initial data dropped
In four related studies published in the journal Nature, researchers present data collected from the probe's first two encounters with the sun. These analyzes reveal the origin of the elusive slow solar wind and show how changes in the magnetic field can speed up the solar wind.
The data were collected in late 2018 and in March and April 2019, when the spacecraft was about 0.25 astronomical units (AU) from the sun. One astronomical unit is the approximate distance between the Earth and the Sun, about 93 million miles, so the probe is only 23,250,000 miles from the Sun. This distance may seem far away, but it is the closest man-made object to the sun currently.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission has traveled closer to the sun than any previous man-made object.
In one study, researchers focused on probe observations of solar plasma and found that as the sun's magnetic field reverses, the solar wind leaves the sun's core faster.
The second study looked at high-energy ions and electrons ejected by the sun. They are more abundant near the outermost layers of the Sun's atmosphere. The findings suggest that these particles are accelerated by sudden bursts of radiation, or plasma, in the corona itself.
Parker Solar Probe can do more
Scientists have long tried to understand the Sun's 11-year magnetic cycle, in which the north and south poles of the sun's magnetic field basically There are exchange points. Observations show that at the end of the solar cycle, solar activity will increase, and more high-energy flares and radiation will be emitted into space. This is what we call the solar wind.
Past studies of the solar wind have been conducted at a distance of one astronomical unit. But the Parker Solar Probe's orbit will get closer and closer to the sun, eventually reaching a distance of 4 million miles from the sun's surface, providing unprecedented new details about the sun's mysterious activity process.
The tiny probe carries a host of instruments that measure the solar wind, particles, magnetic fields, solar radio radiation and coronal structure.
By getting a better look at the corona, scientists hope to solve another of the sun's biggest mysteries. For years, they have been troubled by the extreme temperatures of the corona, which can reach temperatures as high as 1 million degrees Celsius, compared with the sun's surface temperature, which is 5,700 degrees Celsius cooler.
The Solar Probe mission will also help scientists make more accurate predictions of space weather. Space weather refers to the ejection of solar wind and solar coronal material, both of which will have a direct impact on satellites and, more importantly, human space flight activities.
By making closer, more precise measurements of the ingredients that make up space weather, scientists hope to build better weather forecasting models to predict whether the sun will produce unusual radiation that could prevent our science from doing so. The instrument was hit.
The probe is currently in its third orbit, about 15 million miles from the sun's surface. If this new data is anything to go by, we'll make even more exciting discoveries as the spacecraft gets closer to the sun during its remaining 21 orbits.
Author: Passant Rabie
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