NASA solar probe spies solar wind on first anniversary

Last Monday (August 12th), NASA's brand new solar sensor celebrated its first year in space and began preparing for a new, near-sun thrust.

The Parker Solar Probe will take a closer approach on September 1 to gather information that will help scientists better understand the forces of solar wind, solar flares and other types of "space weather" from the sun. The probe has so far completed two close-up approaches and NASA plans to release data from these overflights later this year.

One of Parker's main goals is to study the mechanism that can generate extreme warming of the outermost layer of the sun, called the crown. Scientists are mystified as to why the crown has more than one million degrees Fahrenheit (Over 555,000 degrees Celsius), while the solar layers below are only a few thousand degrees Fahrenheit each.

Related: NASA's Parker solar probe and the sun in images

Parker wants to go through Mercury's orbit several times to find out more. This is a difficult mission because, as the satellite is very close to the sun, extreme heating requires special shielding so that Parker's instruments are not fried by radiation. Parker's heat shield is so dense that even a blowtorch does not bother him. This allows the spacecraft to snuggle close to the sun and make valuable observations.

"The data we are seeing on Parker Solar Probe's instruments shows us details of the solar structures and processes never seen before," said Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist, said in a statement. "Flying near the sun – a very dangerous environment – is the only way to get that data, and the spaceship displays vibrant colors."

NASA has also released a new Parker video that shows the structures of the solar wind – the constant stream of particles emanating from our sun. The 6-second clip shows a luminous "streamer", or a dense stream of solar wind, leaking from the sun, which sits just outside the screen. Dust particles pass through the field of view, against the backdrop of the planet Mercury (the shining point in the background) and the galactic starry center of the Milky Way. The video is based on data obtained from November 6 to 10, 2018.

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