The Parker Solar Probe of the American space agency NASA has been collecting information about the Sun since 2018. Solar activity was quiet when it began its mission. From the year 2019, the period of movements in the Sun started, which will continue till 2025. Parker Solar Probe has passed close to the Sun several times. Recently it made the closest approach ever with the Sun. NASA showed a glimpse of it through a tweet. Looking at it, it seems that the spacecraft almost ‘touched’ the Sun. The source of the solar wind has been revealed from the data collected by Parker Solar Probe.
Before moving on to the news, do you know what are solar winds? The solar wind blows out from the Sun in all directions. It is helpful in taking the Sun’s magnetic field to space. The solar wind is much less dense than the wind on Earth, but it is faster. Solar winds blow at a speed of more than 2 million kilometers per hour. They are made of electrons and ionized atoms, which interact with the Sun’s magnetic field. The region where the solar wind flows is the most influential region of the Sun.
Data from Parker Solar Probe revealed that the solar wind originates from specific regions of the Sun. This study has been published in Nature magazine. Scientists believe that solar winds flow from special places inside the coronal holes of the Sun. The discovery could help scientists understand solar storms. This information can also be useful in the prediction related to solar storms.
Scientists from all over the world are keeping an eye on the activities happening in the Sun these days. The Sun passing through its 11-year solar cycle is in a very active phase. Due to this, solar flare, coronal mass ejection ie CME are coming out. Parker Solar Probe is closely monitoring these events. In the past, it had gone close to 8.5 million kilometers of the Sun’s surface. This time it probed the Sun even closer.