Going through a coronal mass ejection
VIDEO: NASA/ESA
A video capturing the coronal mass ejection observed in May 2010. These large clouds of plasma and magnetic field launched into space from the Sun, around one billion tons of mass are ejected at a speed of approximately 1.6 million km/h.
interplanetary dust
Video: NASA/JOHNS HOPKINS APL/ Naval Research Laboratory
This coronal mass ejection swept interplanetary dust up to 9.6 million kilometers from the Sun.approximately one sixth of the distance between the Sun and Mercury. However, it is said to have been soon replenished by interplanetary dust floating within the Solar System.
Parker’s achievements to date
Illustration: NASA/APL
“This milestone not only provides us with deeper information about the evolution of our Sun and its impacts on the Solar System, but also teaches us more about stars in the rest of the universe,” suggests Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Mission Directorate. Scientists at NASA headquarters in Washington. In addition to those already presented, Parker’s achievements include the discovery of the zigzag-shaped structure that exists in the solar wind called the “switchback” and its origin.
What will the future hold for you?
There are many unsolved mysteries surrounding the Sun. For example, the surface temperature is 6,000 degrees Celsius, but the temperature in the corona, which is farthest from the center of the star, reaches more than a million degrees Celsius. What is the mechanism by which the crown heats up to such high temperatures? Additionally, the speed of the solar wind is about 30 km/s or closer to the Sun, but accelerates to about 400 km/s or closer to Earth. What kind of mechanism accelerates the solar wind in this way?
Noor Rawafy, Parker Solar Probe Project Scientist at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), says the Parker probe will help us solve some of the deepest and most formidable mysteries about the Sun: “It’s a new era of space exploration,” he says, eager to solve the mystery. Parker Solar Probe will continue to approach the Sun at this distance every three months for the remainder of its primary mission. The next flybys are scheduled for March 22 and June 19, 2025.
Additional information by Shigeyuki Hando
Article originally published in WIRED Japan. Adapted by Alondra Flores.
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