The Parker Solar Probe prob began to converge with the Sun on December 24, 2024, flying only 6.5 million km from its surface. Passing through the external atmosphere of the Sun, called the crown, he collected data using a number of scientific devices, including a wide -angle photo receiver for the solar probe (Wispr).
New images demonstrate the crown and the solar wind – a constant flow of electrically charged particles emanating from the sun and penetrating the solar system. The solar wind spreads throughout the system, causing large -scale effects. Along with emissions of the substance and magnetic flows emanating from the Sun, it contributes to the emergence of polar radiance, the destruction of planetary atmospheres and induces electric currents that can overload the electric networks and violate the connection on the ground.
The pictures of WISPR allow scientists to consider in more detail what is happening with the solar wind shortly after its exit from the crown. An important border is visible in the pictures, where the direction of the magnetic field of the Sun changes from north to south, called a heliosphere current layer. The pictures also for the first time in high resolution imprints a collision of multiple coronal mass emissions – large bursts of charged particles, which are a key factor in space weather.
The Parker Solar Probe probe revolutioned in understanding the solar wind thanks to the numerous spans of the apparatus through the external atmosphere of the sun, noted in NASA.
As the deputy administrator of the NASA scientific missions, Nicky Fox, said, now scientists see where the threats of space weather for the Earth come from, with their own eyes, and not only with the help of models. These new data will help to significantly improve space weather forecasts to ensure the safety of astronauts and protecting technologies on Earth and throughout the solar system, he said.
