NASA Reveals Unmatched Detailed Images of the Sun Taken by Parker Solar Probe
Since its initial launch in 2018, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has executed multiple orbits around the sun, progressively venturing closer with every journey. In 2021, it marked the milestone of being the first spacecraft to traverse the corona (the sun’s upper atmosphere), enduring what NASA describes as “intense heat and radiation” for the sake of crucial interstellar knowledge. However, it was only late last year that the probe accomplished one of its most significant achievements thus far.
On December 24, 2024, the Parker Solar Probe embarked on its nearest approach to the sun, situated just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface. While there, the probe gathered data and captured new images using an array of scientific instruments, including the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR). These WISPR images were made public by NASA last month and, as the organization states, provide an unparalleled look into the sun’s corona and solar wind, a “constant flow of electrically charged particles that surge across the solar system.” The phenomenon ejects materials and magnetic currents from the sun, which can result in striking auroras; yet, simultaneously, it can also overwhelm power infrastructures and disrupt communication systems on Earth.
“We are observing where space weather threats to Earth originate, with our eyes, not merely through models,” Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA’s Washington headquarters, remarked in a statement. “This new data will significantly enhance our space weather forecasts to ensure our astronauts’ safety and safeguard our technology both on Earth and across the solar system.”
Significantly, the images unveil the intersection of multiple coronal mass ejections (CMEs) for the first time in high-resolution. CMEs are substantial bursts of charged particles that greatly influence space weather, akin to solar wind. However, when they collide and alter their paths, CMEs can accelerate charged particles and intertwine magnetic fields, presenting a heightened risk to astronauts and satellites in space, as well as Earth-based technologies. By analyzing the probe’s recent images, scientists and astronomers can improve their predictions and preparation regarding the impact of space weather on Earth and the solar system at large.
“In these images, we see the CMEs essentially stacking on top of one another,” Angelos Vourlidas, a WISPR instrument scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, comments. “We’re utilizing this to understand how the CMEs combine, which can be critical for space weather.”
In aggregate, these close-up images and data points enable scientists to delve deeper into solar wind, its generation, and how, precisely, it evades the sun’s “immense gravitational pull.”
“Gaining insight into this continuous flow of particles, especially the slow solar wind, is a significant challenge, particularly given the variety in the characteristics of these streams,” Nour Rawafi, the project scientist for the Parker Solar Probe at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, adds. “But with Parker Solar Probe, we’re nearer than ever to discovering their origins and how they progress.”
The probe will complete its next passage through the sun’s corona on Sept. 15, 2025. To find out more, visit NASA’s website.
NASA has unveiled the closest-ever images of the sun, captured by the Parker Solar Probe only 3.8 million miles from the solar surface.
Artist rendition of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft nearing the sun. (Photo: NASA, Public domain)
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Sources: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Snaps Closest-Ever Images to Sun; Parker Solar Probe
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