Sun ID: 12717

Touching the Sun

Story by Micheala Sosby | Visualizations by Steve Gribben Released on October 2, 2017

The corona is the sun’s outer atmosphere and a constant source of curiosity for scientists who study our star. The corona is hundreds of times hotter than the sun’s surface. This is contrary to our normal experience - that it's cooler further away from a source of heat - so it poses a mystery for solar scientists. The corona is also where magnetic, energetic solar material is accelerated out into space in a non-stop flow called the solar wind. Launching in 2018, Parker Solar Probe will fly through the corona, closer to the sun’s surface than any other spacecraft to date. Scientists hope this data will help them understand how heat and energy move through the corona and drive the solar wind, which can cause space weather here on Earth. Parker Solar Probe will make two dozen close approaches to the sun over its seven-year mission. NASA named this mission in honor of Eugene Parker, a solar astrophysicist who revolutionized our understanding of how the sun’s emissions affect our solar system. Watch the video to learn more.

Parker Solar Probe’s primary science goal is to trace how energy flows through the corona, the outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere.

A 4.5-inch-thick carbon-composite shield will keep Parker Solar Probe’s instruments at room temperature as the spacecraft approaches the sun.

Source Material

For More Information

NASA.gov

Story Credits

Lead Visualizer/Animator:
Steve Gribben (Johns Hopkins University/APL )

Lead Scientist:
Eric Christian Ph.D. (NASA/HQ)

Lead Writer:
Micheala Sosby (NASA/GSFC)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12717

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> App
NASA Science >> Sun