Our sun is far from the perfect ball of light we see in the sky. Spacecraft observations have long shown that when viewed up close, the “surface” of our star generates powerful vortices and is dotted with hot sunspots that occasionally spew superheated material into space – a phenomenon that occurs in stars stages occur more frequently. Increased turbulence
Scientists hope NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will experience the sun’s wrath on Christmas Eve. Will pounce Within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the sun’s surface – the closest man-made object to our star to date. At this record-breaking distance, the probe is expected to Cutting plasma plume
Just two months ago, the sun reached the most turbulent phase of its 11-year cycle, so scientists are hoping it will release at least one flare
Since the Parker Solar Probe Launched in 2018 The strongest aurora in 500 years
“The sun is doing different things than when we first launched,” Nicholeen Viall, co-investigator of the WISPR instrument on the Parker Solar Probe, told reporters at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) annual meeting earlier this month. “That’s really cool because it’s producing different types of solar winds and solar storms.”
Vuillard and other members of the mission team are confident that the spacecraft will be able to withstand solar flares, mainly because the probe easily escaped the strongest flare so far in September 2022, which occurred on the far side of the sun, not near the sun. Within sight of Mission Control.
“Parker Solar Probe was designed for this,” Nour Rouafi, the mission’s project scientist, told Space.com in a recent interview. He added that the spacecraft “handled very well” the 2022 solar flare. After that flare, Parker’s data confirmed decades-old assumptions that coronal mass ejections act like vacuum cleaners, Clear dust from paths
Any flares heading toward Parker Solar Probe would not be seen by the spacecraft itself, which will be isolated from mission control, but would be seen by other solar-observing spacecraft such as European Solar Orbiter. Scientists will know how Parker Solar Probe handles such an event when it reconnects with mission control via a key beacon tone on Dec. 27 and provides imagery and science data in the new year.
The Sun’s turbulence is now so intense that Parker’s four science instruments may even soon be studying powerful solar flares occurring on top of each other, providing scientists with up-close data on our star’s chaotic workings.
“We are getting ready to make history,” Lavoafi told the AGU meeting. “Parker Solar Probe is allowing us to see a new reality about our star.”
