Shedding new light on the Sun

This first data from Parker reveals our star, the Sun, in new and surprising ways.

BY
AMIT MALEWAR
DECEMBER 5, 2019



Image: NASA

On Sunday, Aug. 12, at 3:31 a.m. EDT (0731 GMT), humanity’s first mission: Touch the Sun, with Parker Solar Probe, took off for the journey of studying sun’s surface. Performing as designed, the probe has completed three of the 24 planned approach to the Sun.

On Dec. 4, 2019, four new papers in the journal Nature describe what scientists have learned from this unprecedented exploration of our star — and what they look forward to learning next.

These discoveries uncover new data about the behavior of the material and particles that dash away from the Sun, bringing scientists closer to answering crucial inquiries about the physics of our star. Moreover, the information Parker has uncovered about how the Sun constantly ejects material and energy will help scientists re-write the models we use to understand and predict the space weather around our planet and understand the process by which stars are created and evolve.



Thomas Zurbuchen, an associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said, “This first data from Parker reveals our star, the Sun, in new and surprising ways. Observing the Sun up close rather than from a much greater distance is giving us an unprecedented view into important solar phenomena and how they affect us on Earth and gives us new insights relevant to the understanding of active stars across galaxies. It’s just the beginning of an incredibly exciting time for heliophysics with Parker at the vanguard of discoveries.”

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