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| Parker Probe to Sun |
The NASA spacecraft is closer to the Sun than ever before, entering its atmosphere, known as the corona, scientists said in the US space shuttle on Tuesday.
The first successful communication of the Sun was announced at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union after a journey of 150 million kilometers from Earth.
Why is corona contact important?
- The Parker Solar Probe spent five hours in the corona in April during its eighth encounter with the Sun. It then took a few months for scientists to discover the data and analyze it to ensure success.
- “The fact that the investigation has affected the Sun is an important moment in solar science and a remarkable feat,” Thomas Zurbuchen, director of the NASA space board, said in a statement.
- Parker was launched on Earth in 2018 and landed at a distance of 13 million kilometers from the center of the Sun.
- It fell into the solar system at least three times when the temperature could reach 2 million kelvin, at a speed of 100 miles per second.
🔥 Hot off the press! 🔥
We’ve touched the Sun! 👉☀️ Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere, the corona. Flying so close is revealing new things about our star, like where features called switchbacks are born. Learn more: https://t.co/Eaq0CJXvu1 pic.twitter.com/TTB3TPbPFe— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) December 14, 2021
What can we learn from the Sun?
- Scientists hope to learn more about solar flares and floods that disrupt life on Earth.
- Project scientist Nour Raouafi of Johns Hopkins University said this was “surprisingly interesting” noting that the corona was more dusty than expected.
- Since the Sun does not have a solid surface, the corona is of great interest to scientists, with its electronic field and the solar system it creates.
- Parker made his tenth stint in the Sun in August and will continue to watch the star in the center of the solar system until its final cycle in 2025.
Nasa Sun’s Twitter page posted the image captured by parker,
It’s #SunDay! ☀️ This new view of the Sun’s corona — a dynamic part of the solar atmosphere — was captured by #ParkerSolarProbe when it was just 16.9 million miles from the Sun, much closer than any spacecraft has ever gone before. https://t.co/kec0t4mey5 pic.twitter.com/omExgpMyvX
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) December 16, 2018
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