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close-up view of our star. The spacecraft confirmed
that our picture of the Sun from Earth is deceptively simple.
Parker is the closest spacecraft to the Sun, meaning we now have never-before-seen
details about the solar wind and solar energetic particles.
Solar energetic particles are high energy particles that can endanger both astronauts
and satellites in space. The solar wind is the continuous
outflow of particles and magnetic field from the Sun.
Both speed out, filling up space, affecting space weather throughout our solar system.
For the first time ever we were able to go to the source of the
solar wind and solar particles,. Here are 5 features Parker saw:
We’ve long known that space is full of cosmic dust.
We can even see the dust from Earth, because it reflects sunlight
Parker saw evidence that the dust stops at an estimated 3
and a half million miles from the Sun. As the dust gets closer,
the Sun vaporizes it, creating a dust-free zone surrounding the star.
At Earth, it appears that the magnetic field lines flow evenly
out from the Sun, but Parker saw them behave in a surprising way.
The magnetic field lines flip in a whip-like motion,
turning 180 degrees around in a matter of seconds.
These switchbacks came in clusters, and were timed with fast-moving clumps of plasma in the solar wind.
Scientists have long wondered if the solar wind is generated as a continuous flow or in spurts. We now see evidence that the solar wind has rough,
irregular texture. The plasma within it also seems to lack an orderly
sense of direction. Some clumps of solar material fire out into space while others fall back toward the Sun.
These clumps may be distorting the magnetic field, causing the switchbacks.
They may also be an indicator of what the solar wind looks like in its early stages after its birth
on the Sun.
Parker found a transition point in the solar wind.
The corona is the Sun’s faint, outermost layer that transitions to the solar wind.
Before Parker, scientists knew that the corona rotates with the visible surface below it.
ut they didn’t know how — or where -- the solar wind
witched to flowing straight by the time it reaches Earth.
Parker has finally spotted signs of this transition —and the changeover
happens significantly further out than expected.
Although the Sun has been very quiet over the first two orbits,
Parker observed several tiny bursts of solar energetic particles.
While these events have been seen before — never ones this small.
The fast-moving particles from these modest bursts spread out
as they move from the Sun, making them undetectable from Earth.
Without Parker’s front row seat, we would never know
that the Sun is regularly producing these small-scale events.
Fast-moving particles are a source of dangerous radiation.
The more we learn about these eruptions, the better we can protect our technology and astronauts.
Parker still has more work to do –
already helping us see our star in a whole new light.
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