NASA’S PARKER SOLAR PROBE ENTERS SUN’S CORONA

NASA’S PARKER SOLAR PROBE ENTERS SUN’S CORONA

Highlights

  • Corona is the outermost layer of Sun’s atmosphere. Here, strong magnetic fields bind plasma as well prevent turbulent solar winds from escaping.
  • Prior to April 28, spacecraft had been flying just beyond the Alfven point.
  • The Alfven point is when solar winds become greater than critical speed and can break free of Sun’s corona and magnetic fields.

The Parker Solar Probe

  • Parker Solar Probe is a NASA space probe. It was launched on August 12, 2018. It was launched with objective of making observations of outer corona of the Sun.
  • It reached to within 9.86 solar radii from Sun’s center.
  • By 2025, it will travel at closest approach. It is the first spacecraft to fly into low solar corona.

Background

  • This project was announced in 2009, at the cost of US$1.5 billion. The spacecraft was designed and built by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
  • It is the first spacecraft by NASA, named after a living person.
  • It has been named so to honor nonagenarian physicist Eugene Newman Parker.

Sun’s Corona

  • Sun’s corona is an aura of plasma surrounding it. It extends for millions of kilometers into outer space. Corona is easily visible during a total solar eclipse.
  • It can also be observed with a coronagraph. As per spectroscopy measurements, there is a strong ionization in corona and the plasma temperature of 1000000 kelvin.
  • It is much hotter as compared to surface of the Sun.

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