NASA Parker Probe Reveals New Characteristics Of The Sun

NASA's Parker Probe has brought new information about the Sun into the light. Scientists might now be able to understand previously theorized characteristics of the Sun. The probe uses Venus' gravity for its flybys around the Sun and gathers information about its atmosphere.

The first set of results published in a series of four papers gives a detailed explanation of the processes that are responsible for solar winds and how they match up with the solar rotation. The mission has also managed to detect very small particle acceleration events that aren't detectable from Earth.

The solar wind detected near our planet has a uniform flow and interacts with Earth's magnetic field resulting in space weather effects. However, near the Sun, Parker Probe observed a highly structured system that works similar to a transition zone of a river that flows into an ocean.

This also marks as the first time when researchers are able to study the origin of solar winds i.e the Sun's corona, the outmost part of the atmosphere. The new observation is different from the information that scientists have gathered from the impact of solar winds on Earth.

Parker's latest findings of the Sun constantly ejecting energy will help scientists revamp models used for understanding space weather and better understand the birth and evolution of a star. The study will also help build better space technology and protect astronauts, claims NASA.

Parker probe is embarking on its fourth orbit around the Sun and is around 126 million km away. The probe managed to get in a 24.1 million radius of the Sun on November 6, 2018. The probe will push its limit even further in the future traveling at a speed of more than 343,000 km/h.