At the end of 2021, we shared a series of images taken by NASA’s Parker Solar Pooce as it flies over and touches the upper atmosphere of the sun or Corona. These amazing captures provide unprecedented glimpses of the giant stars from the inside of its magnetic field.
Last week, NASA released new images of the detector as it approaches the sun. On December 24, 2024, the spacecraft was 3.8 million miles from the ground, a distance that allowed a wide field imager for solar probes (WISPR) to record a steady flow of charge particles, called solar wind.
Roaring throughout the solar system, these winds are responsible for many of the weather-related phenomena we experience on Earth, especially when they collide and violate the surrounding magnetic fields. “As the sun’s material and magnetic current burst, it helps to generate aurora, strip away the planetary atmosphere, and induce current, which overwhelms the grid and affects Earth’s communication,” one statement said.
The researchers added that understanding these pop-ups are often unpredictable and may fundamentally change direction when colliding, which will help better prepare astronauts and scientists for space weather events that have broad impacts on Earth and beyond.
It’s worth watching NASA’s interpreter video above to learn more about these groundbreaking images and to keep an eye out for Parker Solar Pooce discoveries in the coming months. The spacecraft is scheduled to be held in September this year. (via PETAPIXEL)
