Parker Solar Probe located the sun from close distance
The US space agency’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft located our sun from a closer distance than ever before. So far, it is sending us information about the many mysteries of our star and we are eager to learn more! Using data from Greek scientists, we are improving the way that we predict space weather. We understand more crearly, as well, the behavior of other stars in the universe.
The speed of the solar wind accelerates even faster than previous models predicted. The wind, a stream of charged particles constantly flows out from the sun.
One of “the really big surprises,” they said, is the detection of sudden very strong increases in solar wind speed, so violent that reverts the Sun’s magnetic field by 180 degrees and after a short time returns to its original position. It appears that it ejectes the particles in an explosive manner, most likely due to their location and speed.
The Sun generates a fast wind that moves at 500 kilometers per second and a slower one that moves at less than 500 kilometers per second. The former solar wind comes from tiny holes in the upper atmosphere. The more mysterious slow wind also comes from small holes in the space surrounding the earth, and were previously unknown. These little holes are cooler and allow faster winds to escape.
Moreover, the discovery of a solar wind that moves around the Sun extremely fast has only confirmed many of what scientists previously thought. They’re moving at speeds over 35 km/s and frequently causing significant damage on Earth’s space environment (and even our planet itself). Space weather forecasts can be helped by the discovery made at the university of Colorado. So far, how radiation from the Sun might reach Earth is no longer a question.
In the region near the Sun, it was found that a lot of fine dust is present. As these elements disintegrate, they are considered to be remnants of asteroids and comets that came close enough to be disintegrated by the intense heat of the sun. But as you get closer to the Sun, there is not much dust at all. At a distance of about 4 million km away from the Sun, there is no dust at all.
The spacecraft, with the size of a car and costing one and a half billion dollars, has already made three close passes of the Sun (the next one is in January) and has come within 24 million kilometres. This is the most recent achievement in space exploration. Venus will come within six million kilometers, seven times closer than any other spacecraft.
At the time of closest approach, Parker SolarProbe will experience very high temperatures reaching up to 1,400 degrees Celsius. It has withstood the heat so far, but this is a new challenge for it. The spacecraft is breaking speed records regularly. In November 2018, it reached 343,181 kilometres per hour and will hit almost 700,000 kilometres per hour by 2024. This is due to the ever-increasing acceleration as a result of new technologies.
One key question is why the surface of the sun has a temperature of only 6,000 degrees Celsius, while its atmosphere (the corona) reaches 1.1 million degrees Celsius. Parker Solar Probe located the sun from close distance. If you enjoyed reading that, then maybe you will also like this article.
Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
