{"id":56107,"date":"2025-07-11T06:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T06:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/56107\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T06:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T06:11:09","slug":"nasas-parker-solar-probe-snaps-closest-ever-images-to-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/56107\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe Snaps Closest-Ever Images to Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>KEY POINTS<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe has taken the closest ever images to the Sun, captured just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface.<\/li>\n<li>The new close-up images show features in the solar wind, the constant stream of electrically charged subatomic particles released by the Sun that rage across the solar system at speeds exceeding 1 million miles an hour.<\/li>\n<li>These images, and other data, are helping scientists understand the mysteries of the solar wind, which is essential to understanding its effects at Earth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On its record-breaking pass by the Sun late last year, NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe captured stunning new images from within the Sun\u2019s atmosphere. These newly released images \u2014 taken closer to the Sun than we\u2019ve ever been before \u2014 are helping scientists better understand the Sun\u2019s influence across the solar system, including events that can affect Earth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cParker Solar Probe has once again transported us into the dynamic atmosphere of our closest star,\u201d said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. \u201cWe are witnessing where space weather threats to Earth begin, with our eyes, not just with models. This new data will help us vastly improve our space weather predictions to ensure the safety of our astronauts and the protection of our technology here on Earth and throughout the solar system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Parker Solar Probe\u00a0started\u00a0its closest approach to the Sun on Dec. 24, 2024, flying just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface. As it skimmed through the Sun\u2019s outer atmosphere, called the corona,\u00a0in the days around the perihelion, it collected data with an array of scientific instruments, including the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe, or WISPR.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Parker Solar Probe has revolutionized our understanding of the solar wind thanks to the spacecraft\u2019s many passes through the Sun\u2019s outer atmosphere.<br \/>Credit: NASA&#8217;s Goddard Space Flight Center\/Joy Ng<\/p>\n<p>The new WISPR images reveal the corona and solar wind, a constant stream of electrically charged particles from the Sun that rage across the solar system. The solar wind expands throughout of the solar system with wide-ranging effects. Together with outbursts of material and magnetic currents from the Sun, it helps generate auroras, strip planetary atmospheres, and induce electric currents that can overwhelm power grids and affect communications at Earth. Understanding the impact of solar wind starts with understanding its origins at the Sun.<\/p>\n<p>The WISPR images give scientists a closer look at what happens to the solar wind shortly after it is released from the corona. The images show the important boundary where the Sun\u2019s magnetic field direction switches from northward to southward, called the heliospheric current sheet. It also captures the collision of multiple coronal mass ejections, or CMEs \u2014 large outbursts of charged particles that are a key driver of space weather \u2014 for the first time in high resolution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn these images, we\u2019re seeing the CMEs basically piling up on top of one another,\u201d said Angelos Vourlidas, the WISPR instrument scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which designed, built, and operates the spacecraft in Laurel, Maryland. \u201cWe\u2019re using this to figure out how the CMEs merge together, which can be important for space weather.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When CMEs collide, their trajectory can change, making it harder to predict where they\u2019ll end up. Their merger can also accelerate charged particles and mix magnetic fields, which makes the CMEs\u2019 effects potentially more dangerous to astronauts and satellites in space and technology on the ground. Parker Solar Probe\u2019s close-up view helps scientists better prepare for such space weather effects at Earth and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>The solar wind was first theorized by preeminent heliophysicist Eugene Parker in 1958. His theories about the solar wind, which were met with criticism at the time, revolutionized how we see our solar system. Prior to Parker Solar Probe\u2019s launch in 2018, NASA and its international partners led missions like <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/mariner-2\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mariner 2<\/a>, Helios, <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/ulysses\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ulysses<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/wind\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wind<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/ace\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ACE<\/a> that helped scientists understand the origins of the solar wind \u2014 but from a distance. Parker Solar Probe, named in honor of the late scientist, is filling in the gaps of our understanding much closer to the Sun.<\/p>\n<p>At Earth, the solar wind is mostly a consistent breeze, but Parker Solar Probe found it\u2019s anything but at the Sun. When the spacecraft reached within 14.7 million miles from the Sun, it encountered zig-zagging magnetic fields \u2014 a feature known as switchbacks. Using Parker Solar Probe\u2019s data, scientists discovered that these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/science-research\/heliophysics\/switchbacks-science-explaining-parker-solar-probes-magnetic-puzzle\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">switchbacks<\/a>, which came in clumps, were more common than expected.<\/p>\n<p>When Parker Solar Probe first crossed into the corona about 8 million miles from the Sun\u2019s surface in 2021, it noticed the boundary of the corona was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/solar-system\/nasa-enters-the-solar-atmosphere-for-the-first-time-bringing-new-discoveries\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">uneven<\/a> and more complex than previously thought.<\/p>\n<p>As it got even closer, Parker Solar Probe helped scientists pinpoint the origin of switchbacks at patches on the visible surface of the Sun where magnetic funnels form. In 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/science-research\/nasa-esa-missions-help-scientists-uncover-how-solar-wind-gets-energy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">scientists announced<\/a> that the fast solar wind \u2014 one of two main classes of the solar wind \u2014 is in part powered by these switchbacks, adding to a 50-year-old mystery.<\/p>\n<p>However, it would take a closer view to understand the slow solar wind, which travels at just 220 miles per second, half the speed of the fast solar wind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe big unknown has been: how is the solar wind generated, and how does it manage to escape the Sun\u2019s immense gravitational pull?\u201d said Nour Rawafi, the project scientist for Parker Solar Probe at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. \u201cUnderstanding this continuous flow of particles<strong>, <\/strong>particularly the slow solar wind,\u00a0is a major challenge, especially given the diversity in the properties of these streams \u2014 but with Parker Solar Probe, we\u2019re closer than ever to uncovering their origins and how they evolve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The slow solar wind, which is twice as dense and more variable than fast solar wind, is important to study because its interplay with the fast solar wind can create moderately strong solar storm conditions at Earth sometimes rivaling those from CMEs.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to Parker Solar Probe, distant observations suggested there are actually two varieties of slow solar wind, distinguished by the orientation or variability of their magnetic fields. One type of slow solar wind, called Alfv\u00e9nic, has small-scale switchbacks. The second type, called non-Alfv\u00e9nic, doesn\u2019t show these variations in its magnetic field.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As it spiraled closer to the Sun, Parker Solar Probe confirmed there are indeed two types. Its close-up views are also helping scientists differentiate the origins of the two types, which scientists believe are unique. The non-Alfv\u00e9nic wind may come off features called helmet streamers \u2014 large loops connecting active regions where some particles can heat up enough to escape \u2014 whereas Alfv\u00e9nic wind might originate near coronal holes, or dark, cool regions in the corona.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In its current orbit, bringing the spacecraft just 3.8 million miles from the Sun, Parker Solar Probe will continue to gather additional data during its upcoming passes through the corona to help scientists confirm the slow solar wind\u2019s origins. The next pass comes Sept. 15, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t have a final consensus yet, but we have a whole lot of new intriguing data,\u201d said Adam Szabo, Parker Solar Probe mission scientist at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.<\/p>\n<p><strong>By <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/science-research\/heliophysics\/nasas-parker-solar-probe-snaps-closest-ever-images-to-sun\/mailto:mjohnson-groh@rothe.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mara Johnson-Groh<\/a><\/strong><br \/><strong>NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KEY POINTS NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe has taken the closest ever images to the Sun, captured just 3.8&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":56108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2685,41183,41184,40026,41185,41186,41187,159,41188,2689,41189,797,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-56107","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-goddard-space-flight-center","9":"tag-heliophysics","10":"tag-heliophysics-division","11":"tag-missions","12":"tag-nasa-centers-facilities","13":"tag-nasa-directorates","14":"tag-parker-solar-probe-psp","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-science-research","17":"tag-science-mission-directorate","18":"tag-solar-wind","19":"tag-space-weather","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}