Latest news with #ParkerSolarProbe
Forbes
2 days ago
- Science
- Forbes
NASA Spacecraft ‘Touches Sun' For Final Time In Defining Moment For Humankind
The heavily armored Parker Solar Probe has traveled to within just 3.86 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the sun's surface — what NASA calls 'hyper close.' It's the third and final time it has performed the feat, following similar achievements on Dec. 24, 2024, and March 22, 2025. Parker launched on Aug. 12, 2018, and has since conducted 23 perihelions — close passes — of the sun, getting to within 3.86 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) twice before today's repeat performnce. For scale, that's four yards from the end zone if the distance between Earth and the sun was the length of an American football field, according to mission scientists. During this final perihelion of the mission, the probe will be traveling at around 430,000 miles per hour (690,000 kilometers per hour). According to NASA, that's fast enough to get from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., in a single second. Perihelion 24 also sees it forced to withstand temperatures of 1,600 to 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (870 to 930 degrees Celsius). Its only armor against both temperature and extreme ultraviolet radiation is a carbon composite shield. Parker is in a highly elliptical orbit, which takes 88 days but allows it to occasionally swoop particularly close to the sun. One of the main objectives of the mission is to understand why the sun's corona, its outer atmosphere, is a million times hotter than the photosphere, its surface. The corona is where the solar wind originates from, so solar physicists must understand it better if they are to forecast space weather more accurately. That's important because the state of the solar wind — a stream of charged particles interacting with the Earth's atmosphere — can damage satellites and harm astronauts, as well as cause Northern Lights. The latter half of Parker's mission has coincided with the peak of Solar Cycle 25, the current 11-year-long cycle of the sun, during which our star experiences a waxing and waning of magnetic activity. A study published on June 3 used data from Parker while flying close to the sun, reveal a new source for energetic particles in the solar corona. The mechanism, called magnetic reconnection, heats the solar atmosphere, accelerating solar wind particles. Magnetic reconnection — when magnetic field lines converge, break apart and reconnect in an explosive physical process — is responsible for powerful solar events, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections. 'We've seen how magnetic reconnection behaves near Earth, but Parker has now shown how potent it is near the sun, where magnetic fields are significantly stronger,' said Dr. Mihir Desai, lead author and a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. Parker isn't going anywhere. Locked in the orbit of the sun, it will continue to loop around our star. However, it was gravity assists at Venus that gave the spacecraft enough momentum to get so close to the sun. No, it's within the orbit of Venus, that opportunity is lost, so it won't be able to reach any closer to the sun than it already has done. According to Live Science, the spacecraft's thrusters will eventually run out of fuel, and it will burn up, though its heat shield may remain in orbit for thousands of years.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Spacecraft unveils 1st-ever images of sun's south pole: 'Beginning of a new era'
Plenty of spacecraft and telescopes have throughout the years been able to observe the sun up close – with plenty more missions on the way. In late-December 2024, NASA's Parker Solar Probe got closer to the sun than any spacecraft before it. Earlier that same month, the European Space Agency sent a pair of satellites toward the sun to create "solar eclipses on demand." And in March, NASA sent four small satellites on its PUNCH mission to study how the sun's outer atmosphere becomes solar wind. But no spacecraft has ever gotten a good look at either of the sun's poles. Until now. In March, a spacecraft captured the first-ever clear images of the sun's south pole, which the European Space Agency released Wednesday, June 11. 'We reveal humankind's first-ever views of the sun's pole,' Carole Mundell, director of science for the European Space Agency, said in a statement. 'These new unique views from our Solar Orbiter mission are the beginning of a new era of solar science.' Here's a look at what the Solar Orbiter captured, and why ESA officials believe it will help scientists better understand our life-giving host star. Solar Orbiter: Newly-released photos capture the sun in highest resolution ever Before you saw the picture above, any image you have ever seen of the sun was taken from around its equator. Why? Because Earth, like all the planets in our solar system, orbits the sun along a line across a flat, disc-shaped plane in the sky known as the ecliptic. That means all the spacecraft we launch into orbit tend to do so as well. But by tilting the Solar Orbiter's orbit out of that plane, the ESA was able to reveal the sun from a brand new angle. The process began in February 2025 when the Solar Orbiter passed closely by Venus for a gravitational boost that allowed the spacecraft to push itself out of the orbital plane to see the sun at a higher angle. Then on March 23, the Solar Orbiter whizzed by the sun at an angle of 17 degrees, as compared to the 7 degree-orbit of all the planets and other sun-observing spacecraft, to get some historic snapshots of the south pole. A few days prior, the Solar Orbiter was also able to view the sun from an angle of 15 degrees below the equator while using its fleet of on-board instruments to observe the sun in different wavelengths – including visible light and ultraviolet light. The images were taken as the sun's peak activity, known as its solar maximum, begins to wind down. ESA scientists believe that studying the sun's polar regions could be key to unlocking secrets about the sun's 11-year solar cycle, which can cause space weather that disrupts satellites and even causes northern lights to flourish. "The sun is our nearest star, giver of life and potential disruptor of modern space and ground power systems, so it is imperative that we understand how it works and learn to predict its behavior," Mundell said. The Solar Orbiter launched February 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with 10 scientific instruments to study the sun. Its mission? Gather images of the sun from closer than any spacecraft before it and study the hot star's polar regions to understand things like the sun's atmosphere, its solar cycle and how solar wind forms. In November, the ESA released images the Solar Orbiter obtained in March 2023 that the agency said are the highest-resolution views of the sun's surface, known as the photosphere, to date. According to the ESA, the best views from the Solar Orbiter are yet to come. In the coming years, the Solar Orbiter will continue to orbit around the sun at even higher angles, reaching as much as 33 degrees in July 2029. Scientists at the ESA also expect to receive images of the north solar pole by October that the Solar Orbiter has already taken. 'This is just the first step," Daniel Müller, Solar Orbiter project scientist for the ESA, said in a statement. "In the coming years, the spacecraft will climb further out of the ecliptic plane for ever better views of the sun's polar regions." Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spacecraft captures 1st-ever images of sun's south pole: See photos
USA Today
12-06-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Spacecraft unveils 1st-ever images of sun's south pole: 'Beginning of a new era'
Spacecraft unveils 1st-ever images of sun's south pole: 'Beginning of a new era' European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter, which launched from Florida in 2020, got a historic look at the sun's south pole. Plenty of spacecraft and telescopes have throughout the years been able to observe the sun up close – with plenty more missions on the way. In late-December 2024, NASA's Parker Solar Probe got closer to the sun than any spacecraft before it. Earlier that same month, the European Space Agency sent a pair of satellites toward the sun to create "solar eclipses on demand." And in March, NASA sent four small satellites on its PUNCH mission to study how the sun's outer atmosphere becomes solar wind. But no spacecraft has ever gotten a good look at either of the sun's poles. Until now. In March, a spacecraft captured the first-ever clear images of the sun's south pole, which the European Space Agency released Wednesday, June 11. 'We reveal humankind's first-ever views of the sun's pole,' Carole Mundell, director of science for the European Space Agency, said in a statement. 'These new unique views from our Solar Orbiter mission are the beginning of a new era of solar science.' Here's a look at what the Solar Orbiter captured, and why ESA officials believe it will help scientists better understand our life-giving host star. Solar Orbiter: Newly-released photos capture the sun in highest resolution ever ESA orbiter gets 1st look at sun's south pole Before you saw the picture above, any image you have ever seen of the sun was taken from around its equator. Why? Because Earth, like all the planets in our solar system, orbits the sun along a line across a flat, disc-shaped plane in the sky known as the ecliptic. That means all the spacecraft we launch into orbit tend to do so as well. But by tilting the Solar Orbiter's orbit out of that plane, the ESA was able to reveal the sun from a brand new angle. The process began in February 2025 when the Solar Orbiter passed closely by Venus for a gravitational boost that allowed the spacecraft to push itself out of the orbital plane to see the sun at a higher angle. Then on March 23, the Solar Orbiter whizzed by the sun at an angle of 17 degrees, as compared to the 7 degree-orbit of all the planets and other sun-observing spacecraft, to get some historic snapshots of the south pole. A few days prior, the Solar Orbiter was also able to view the sun from an angle of 15 degrees below the equator while using its fleet of on-board instruments to observe the sun in different wavelengths – including visible light and ultraviolet light. The images were taken as the sun's peak activity, known as its solar maximum, begins to wind down. ESA scientists believe that studying the sun's polar regions could be key to unlocking secrets about the sun's 11-year solar cycle, which can cause space weather that disrupts satellites and even causes northern lights to flourish. "The sun is our nearest star, giver of life and potential disruptor of modern space and ground power systems, so it is imperative that we understand how it works and learn to predict its behavior," Mundell said. What is the Solar Orbiter? The Solar Orbiter launched February 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with 10 scientific instruments to study the sun. Its mission? Gather images of the sun from closer than any spacecraft before it and study the hot star's polar regions to understand things like the sun's atmosphere, its solar cycle and how solar wind forms. In November, the ESA released images the Solar Orbiter obtained in March 2023 that the agency said are the highest-resolution views of the sun's surface, known as the photosphere, to date. Solar Orbiter also got a look at sun's north pole According to the ESA, the best views from the Solar Orbiter are yet to come. In the coming years, the Solar Orbiter will continue to orbit around the sun at even higher angles, reaching as much as 33 degrees in July 2029. Scientists at the ESA also expect to receive images of the north solar pole by October that the Solar Orbiter has already taken. 'This is just the first step," Daniel Müller, Solar Orbiter project scientist for the ESA, said in a statement. "In the coming years, the spacecraft will climb further out of the ecliptic plane for ever better views of the sun's polar regions." Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The ESA just snapped the first photos of the Sun's south pole
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, BGR may receive an affiliate commission. The European Space Agency has achieved yet another 'first' for humankind by capturing the first photos of the Sun's south pole. These images were captured by the agency's Solar Orbiter spacecraft, and it gives us our first distinct look at the atmosphere of the Sun's southern pole. When viewed from our little blue planet, the Sun appears as nothing more than a massive disc of light. However, thanks to the efforts of the Parker Solar Probe and other astronomical observations, we know that isn't really the case. Like the other planets in our solar system, the star that it all revolves around is massive, and made up of several different regions. Today's Top Deals Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Best Ring Video Doorbell deals Memorial Day security camera deals: Reolink's unbeatable sale has prices from $29.98 Further, because the star is made up of so much pure, raw energy, it's more like a roaring ball of power, with magnetic fields twisting and turning around it as it rotates. These fields are what help determine when the Sun sends solar energy ripping through space into our solar system, and understanding them is key to understanding our Sun's potential power. We know that our Sun goes through a relatively quiet period, where the Sun's south and north pole are clearly defined. However, there's also a time where it's less stable, and the Sun is much more violent, with energy ripping off the surface of the star more frequently. Observing this has been difficult in the past, as we had no clear indicator of where the Sun's south and north poles were. However, that changes now, thanks to the latest observations from the ESA's Solar Orbiter. Knowing where the Sun's north and south poles are will help us follow the magnetic fields as they go through a polar reversal, which changes how the energy flows on the surface of our star. Now, researchers believe they may actually be able to watch where the flow of power and fluid transports bits of the Sun's solar energy to the poles. The goal of this observation is to help us come up with better computer models to estimate and predict when solar outbursts will occur. Because solar storms can be so damaging to Earth's own magnetic field, having a good idea of where and when they might strike is key to protecting future space missions. However, there's still a lot of work to do if we want to be able to predict where the solar energy will erupt from. Until then, at least we have a good foundation to build off of. More Top Deals Amazon gift card deals, offers & coupons 2025: Get $2,000+ free See the
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's Parker Solar Probe spots powerful magnetic explosion aimed at the sun's surface
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. While making a death-defying dive through the sun's atmosphere, NASA's Parker Solar Probe has directly recorded a powerful plasma explosion heading toward our star's surface in unprecedented detail. Parker's new measurements found protons with about 1000 times greater energy than expected and a plasma jet shooting toward the sun, not away from it. Parker was uniquely positioned between the sun and the particles' source, allowing scientists to easily figure out where they came from. These findings indicate that the complexity and strength of tangles in the sun's magnetic field can accelerate charged particles to much greater speeds than expected from the field's strength alone. The sunward plasma jet was caused by "magnetic reconnection" in the sun's atmosphere — the explosive process in which magnetic fields fracture and reconnect. The powerful phenomenon transforms energy stored in the sun's magnetic field into energy that accelerates the solar wind — the constant stream of charged particles that the sun blasts across the solar system. Understanding magnetic reconnection is critical for making better predictions about space weather, which is driven by the solar wind and other energetic outbursts from our star. Space weather is a primary suspect for what stripped away Mars' atmosphere, turning it from a habitable planet into an icy desert wasteland. On Earth, space weather can trigger geomagnetic storms that cause blackouts, damage satellites, interfere with radio and GPS signals, and even put astronauts at risk. On the bright side, it also gives Earth its signature glorious auroras. The sun's magnetic field is extremely powerful, complex and dynamic. Space weather predictions require complicated computer simulations based on equations that describe how magnetic fields behave — but the sun is so large and convoluted that these equations will always be approximations. To improve the models' accuracy, scientists must collect extremely detailed measurements of the sun. This is where the Parker Solar Probe comes in. The Parker Solar Probe is the first mission to fly into the sun's upper atmosphere, called the corona. It has been directly measuring magnetic fields and particles in and around the corona in unprecedented detail, providing scientific insight into the heliosphere (the sun's atmosphere, which encompasses the entire solar system in a massive, elongated bubble). Related: NASA's daredevil solar spacecraft survives 2nd close flyby of our sun "These findings indicate that magnetic reconnection … is an important source of energetic particles in the near-Sun solar wind," lead study author Mihir Desai, director of the Southwest Research Institute's Department of Space Research, said in a statement. "Everywhere there are magnetic fields there will be magnetic reconnection. But the Sun's magnetic fields are much stronger near the star, so there's a lot more stored energy to be released." Understanding the workings of magnetic reconnection events could help scientists better predict harmful space weather, the researchers said. RELATED STORIES —New 8K-resolution photos of the sun show off incredible details of raging sunspots —Space photo of the week: Pink 'raindrops' on the sun captured in greatest detail ever —Powerful Mother's Day geomagnetic storm created radio-disrupting bubbles in Earth's upper atmosphere "Reports from the American Meteorological Society indicated that the powerful solar events in May 2024 wreaked havoc with farmers when extreme geomagnetic storms disrupted the precise GPS-guided navigation systems used to plant, fertilize and harvest rows of seeds, causing an estimated loss of up to $500 million in earning potential," Desai said. "Parker's access to this new data is critical, particularly as we remain in the midst of a very active solar cycle." The latest measurements of magnetic reconnection, reported in a paper published May 29 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, are one of many new discoveries Parker has made. In 2023, over 700 peer-reviewed scientific papers were published using data collected in the probe's first four years of operation, and there are still many more discoveries to be made. The spacecraft completed its second ultra-close flyby of the sun on March 22, zooming within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the sun's surface — matching its own record from December 2024.
