The Parker Solar Probe was launched three years ago in an effort to study the sun.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — A spaceship NASA be the first to “touch the sun”. It’s a long-awaited success and a potential giant leap in understanding influence Sun to the solar system.
Aircraft Parker Solar Probe managed to fly through the sun’s corona or upper atmosphere in April to sample particles and magnetic fields. This sample is followed by research published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
The findings were also announced Tuesday (local time) at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans.
“For centuries, humankind has only been able to observe this atmosphere from afar. Now… we have finally arrived. Humanity has touched the sun,” said Nicola Fox, director of NASA’s heliophysics division. stuff.co.nz on Friday (17/12).
The Parker Solar Probe was launched three years ago in an effort to study the sun and its dangers. The craft will help scientists uncover important and unknown information about the Sun, including how the flow of solar particles can affect the planet.
NASA’s science mission directorate representative, Thomas Zurbuchen sees how discoveries in one discipline will relate to other fields of study. He said the success of the Parker Solar Probe in “touching the sun” was a monumental moment for solar science and a remarkable achievement.
“Not only does this milestone give us deeper insight into the evolution of the Sun and its impact on the solar system, but everything we learn about our own stars also teaches us more about stars throughout the universe,” Zurbuchen said.
The spacecraft’s touch with the sun is the culmination of a mission of more than 60 years. Scientists have long tried to get close to the sun, which is the source of Earth’s light and heat. Scientists are also curious about solar storms that can disrupt satellites and power grids.
Previously, America’s top scientists in 1958 compiled a list of missions they thought should be pursued by NASA, then the new space agency. Dreams like the Hubble Space Telescope, the Voyager twin spacecraft, and the Apollo program have finally come true.
But the goal of reaching the sun remains elusive despite the well-documented challenges of touching the sun. The closest star to Earth has no solid surface and is depicted in one NASA video as a giant ball of hot plasma held together by its own gravity.
Fuel from the sun helps form the star’s atmosphere or corona, which is an area significantly hotter than the star’s surface. The corona is about 1 million degrees Celsius at its hottest point, compared to the surface of the sun at about 5726 Celsius. Some of the hot particles from the corona eventually burst into space as the solar wind.
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