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One month after its successful launch, Parker Solar Probe, a NASA robotic spacecraft designed to explore the Sun's atmosphere, collected and transmitted its first data.
Light data from the Parker Solar Probe WISPR instrument suite: the right side of this image – from the WISPR internal telescope – has a 40-degree field of view, with its right edge at 58.5 degrees from the center of the Sun; the light object slightly to the right of the center of the image is Jupiter; the left side of the image comes from the WISPR outdoor telescope, which has a 58 degree field of view and extends about 160 degrees from the sun; he shows the milky way, looking at the galactic center; there is a parallax of about 13 degrees in the apparent position of the Sun as seen from Earth and Parker Solar Probe. Image credit: NASA / Naval Research Laboratory / Parker Solar Probe.
"The four Parker Solar Probe instrument suites – WISPR, ISʘIS, FIELDS, and SWEAP – have returned data that not only serves calibration, but also captures expected results near the Sun in order to solve problems. mysteries of the solar atmosphere. the corona, "said Parker Solar Probe project scientist Dr. Nour Raouafi from Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory.
"The first approach to the Mission Sun will take place in November 2018, but even now, the instruments are able to collect measurements of what is happening in the solar wind closer to Earth.
As the single spacecraft imager, the WISPR (Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe) instrument will provide the clearest insight into the solar wind from the solar corona.
WISPR was activated in early September 2018 and took test images for calibration.
"There is a very distinctive group of stars on the overlap of the two images. The brightest is the star Antares-alpha, located in the Scorpius constellation and about 90 degrees from the Sun, "said WISPR Principal Investigator Dr. Russ Howard, a scientist with the Naval Research Laboratory.
"The sun, not visible on the image, is far to the right of the right edge of the image. The planet Jupiter is visible in the image captured by the internal telescope of WISPR – it is the light object slightly to the right of the center in the right panel of the image.
"The left side of the picture shows a beautiful image of the Milky Way, looking at the galactic center."
The suite of ISʘIS (Integrated Science Investigation of Sun) instruments aboard Parker Solar Probe measures the solar activity associated with high-energy particles, such as coronal mass rashes and ejections.
The two energy particle instruments of ISʘIS cover a range of energies for these particles driven by the activity: EPI-Lo focuses on the lower end of the energy spectrum, while EPI-Hi measures the most energetic particles.
Both instruments collected low voltage data, ensuring that their detectors function as expected. As Parker Solar Probe approaches the Sun, it will be fully powered to measure the particles in the solar corona.
"The IS withIS team is delighted with the activation of the instruments so far. There are still some steps to go through, but until now everything is perfect, "said Professor David McComas, principal investigator at Princeton University of ISʘIS.
The FIELDS suite of spacecraft captures the scale and shape of electric and magnetic fields in the Sun's atmosphere. These are key measures to understand why the Sun's crown is hundreds of times warmer than its lower surface.
The CHAMPS sensors include four 2m electric field antennas as well as three magnetometers and a fifth shorter electric field antenna mounted on a pole from the rear of the spacecraft.
"FIELDS is one of the most comprehensive field and wave suites ever deployed in space, and is proceeding wonderfully," said FIELDS principal investigator, Dr. Stuart Bale, of 39, University of California at Berkeley.
The Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) suite includes three instruments: Two Solar Probe Analyzers (SPANs) measure electrons and ions in the solar wind, while the Solar Probe Cup detaches behind the Parker Solar Probe heat shield to measure the solar wind directly as it flows from the sun.
After opening the covers, putting under high voltage and internal diagnosis, the three instruments were able to see the solar wind itself.
"SWEAP's solar wind and corona performance has been very promising," said SWEAP Principal Investigator Dr. Justin Kasper of the University of Michigan.
"Our preliminary results, right after the presentation, suggest that we have a set of very sensitive instruments that will allow us to make amazing science as close to the sun as possible."
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