On June 22, 2023, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe made its closest approach to the Sun yet, coming within 5.3 million miles (8.5 million kilometers) of the solar surface. The spacecraft was able to safely emerge from the close flyby and was operating normally following its 16th orbit of the star.
The Parker Solar Probe is a spacecraft that was launched in 2018 with the mission of studying the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona. The corona is much hotter than the Sun’s surface, and scientists don’t fully understand why. The Parker Solar Probe is designed to get close enough to the Sun to study the corona in detail.
The spacecraft’s closest approach to the Sun on June 22. Was the closest it will get until its final orbit in 2025. By then, it will have made 24 orbits of the Sun.And come within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the solar surface.
The Parker Solar Probe’s close encounters with the Sun have allowed scientists to make new discoveries about the Sun’s corona. For example, they have found that the corona is much more dynamic than previously thought. With magnetic fields constantly churning and changing. They have also found that the corona is much hotter than expected. Reaching temperatures of up to 2 million degrees Fahrenheit (1 million degrees Celsius).
The Parker Solar Probe is still in its early stages of mission. But it has already made significant contributions to our understanding of the Sun. As it continues to orbit the Sun, it will continue to reveal new secrets about our star.
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