Cape Canaveral, Dec. 14 (BUS): A NASA spacecraft has officially “touched” the sun, as it plunges into the undiscovered heliosphere known as the corona.
Scientists announced the news Tuesday during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union, according to the Associated Press.
In fact, the Parker Solar Probe flew through the corona in April during the spacecraft’s eighth approach to the sun. The scientists said it took a few months to recover the data and then several more months to confirm.
“Amazingly exciting,” said project scientist Noor Al-Rawafi of Johns Hopkins University.
Parker was launched in 2018 8 million miles (13 million kilometers) from the center of the Sun when it first crossed the rough, uneven boundary between the solar atmosphere and the outgoing solar wind.
The spacecraft has penetrated into and out of the corona at least three times, each with a smooth transition, according to the scientists.
“It was the first and most dramatic time we were under five hours… Now you might think about five hours, that doesn’t sound like much,” Justin Kasper of the University of Michigan told reporters.
But he noted that Parker was moving so fast that he’s covered a vast distance during that time, ripping along at more than 62 miles (100 kilometers) per second.
And the aura seemed more dusty than expected, according to Al-Rawafi. He said future coronal flights will help scientists better understand the origin of the solar wind, and how it is heated and accelerated into space.
Because the sun lacks a solid surface, the corona is where to work; Exploring this region of high magnetic density up close could help scientists better understand solar flares that could interfere with life here on Earth.
Preliminary data suggests that Parker also dipped into the corona during its August 9th approach, but scientists said more analyzes are needed. And achieved its tenth approach to closing last month.
Parker will continue to get closer to the Sun and dive deeper into the corona until its grand final orbit in 2025.
The latest results have also been published by the American Physical Society.