AGU 2018 - Expected Data and Scientific Discovery from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe

Animation of NASA's Parker Solar Probe in the solar wind. Credit: NASA/GSFC/CIL/Brian Monroe

Footage from the launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe in August 2018. Credit: NASA

Image of the 2018 NASA Heliophysics spacecraft fleet. Credit: NASA/Jenny Mottar

A coronal mass ejection (CME) strikes Earth. Credit: NASA/GSFC/SVS

Animation of Parker Solar Probe during its Venus flyby. Credit: JHUAPL

First light data from Parker Solar Probe's WISPR (Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe) instrument suite. The right side of this image — from WISPR's inner telescope — has a 40-degree field of view, with its right edge 58.5 degrees from the Sun's center. The bright object slightly to the right of the image's center is Jupiter. The left side of the image is from WISPR's outer telescope, which has a 58-degree field of view and extends to about 160 degrees from the Sun. There is a parallax of about 13 degrees in the apparent position of the Sun as viewed from Earth and from Parker Solar Probe.

Credit: NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe

Early data from the Solar Probe Cup, part of the SWEAP (Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons) instrument suite aboard Parker Solar Probe, showing a gust of solar wind (the red streak). Credit: NASA/University of Michigan/Parker Solar Probe

At its closest approach on Nov. 5, called perihelion, Parker Solar Probe reached a top speed of 213,200 miles per hour, setting a new record for spacecraft speed. Mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab received the status beacon from the spacecraft at 4:46 p.m. EST on Nov. 7, 2018. The beacon indicated status "A" — the best of all four possible status signals, meaning that Parker Solar Probe was operating well with all instruments running and collecting science data and, if there were any minor issues, they were resolved autonomously by the spacecraft. Credit: APL

First light data from EPI-Lo (the lower-energy Energetic Particle Instrument), part of the ISʘIS (Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun) suite aboard Parker Solar Probe. Credit: NASA/Princeton University/Parker Solar Probe

This plot was updated on Sept. 21, 2018, to better illustrate the comparison between Parker Solar Probe’s data (center and bottom) and the data from the Wind mission (top). Credit: NASA/UC Berkeley/Parker Solar Probe

This image from Parker Solar Probe's WISPR (Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe) instrument shows a coronal streamer, seen over the east limb of the Sun on Nov. 8, 2018, at 1:12 a.m. EST. Coronal streamers are structures of solar material within the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, that usually overlie regions of increased solar activity. The fine structure of the streamer is very clear, with at least two rays visible. Parker Solar Probe was about 16.9 million miles from the Sun's surface when this image was taken. The bright object near the center of the image is Mercury, and the dark spots are a result of background correction.

Credit: NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe

Time-lapse of the Sun as seen by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credit: NASA/SDO/Scott Wiessinger

Data from images aboard the STEREO-A spacecraft along with the location of Parker as it flies through the sun’s outer atmosphere. Images will allow us to provide key context for understanding the Parker observations. Credit: NASA/GSFC

This video clip shows actual data from NASA’s Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory Ahead (STEREO-A) spacecraft, along with the location of Parker Solar Probe as it flies through the Sun’s outer atmosphere during its first solar encounter phase in November 2018. Such images will allow us to provide key context for understanding Parker Solar Probe’s observations. Credit: NASA/STEREO

In situ measurements from various spacecraft enable scientists to see how things change with time as they flow past Parker and out through the solar system. Credit: NASA/STEREO

Global model solutions produce excellent matches with observations, such as the 2017 eclipse. Credit: Predictive Science Inc.

Measurements made by Parker Solar Probe can be connected to their sources at the Sun through models. Credit: Predictive Science Inc.

Numerical models provide a global context for interpreting Parker Solar Probe observations. Credit: Predictive Science Inc.