Parker Solar Probe sheds light on our local star | | | Scientists who study the sun are buzzing this week about 4 new papers published yesterday in Nature. The papers are based on data collected by the record-setting Parker Solar Probe mission - launched in 2018 - during the spacecraft’s first 2 close sweeps past our parent star in late 2018 and early 2019. These early studies, the scientists say, provide insights into the 2 fundamental questions the Parker Solar Probe mission was designed to answer. First, defying all logic, why does the sun's outer atmosphere - or corona - become much, much hotter the farther it stretches from the sun’s surface? Second, what accelerates the solar wind - a supersonic stream of protons, electrons and other particles - emanating from the corona and permeating the entire solar system? Read more. | | |
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