All articles tagged with #solar corona
The Parker Solar Probe remains the fastest human-made object, zipping through the Sun’s corona at about 430,000 mph and protected by a 4.5-inch-thick carbon-foam heat shield; after seven Venus gravity assists it now sits in its closest solar orbit, operating autonomously and returning data on the corona and solar wind as NASA extends the mission beyond its original plan.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe travels about 430,000 mph as it skimms the Sun with a 4.5-inch carbon-foam thermal shield that keeps its instruments near room temperature, enabling unprecedented study of the corona, solar wind, and magnetic switchbacks during close solar passes.
ESA's Proba-3 regained contact after about a month of silence thanks to a rare sunlight window that provided power to the tumbling coronagraph satellite; engineers will carefully re-power and test the two-satellite formation as they continue to study the solar corona.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe delivered unprecedented close-up data from the Sun’s corona, enabling researchers to use the Arbitrary Linear Plasma Solver (ALPS) to analyze how particles respond to waves in the Sun’s plasma. The study shows how heating and damping shape the solar wind near the Sun, with cooling of particles occurring more gradually than expected as they stream outward—improving space weather forecasts and informing similar plasma processes in the universe.
Scientists using NASA's Parker Solar Probe have discovered the helicity barrier, a process that explains why the Sun's outer atmosphere is much hotter than its surface and how the solar wind is accelerated, providing new insights into plasma turbulence and space weather prediction.
Scientists using NASA’s Parker Solar Probe have discovered the helicity barrier, a process that explains how the Sun’s outer atmosphere becomes much hotter than its surface and how the solar wind is accelerated, solving long-standing mysteries about solar plasma behavior and turbulence.
Despite extensive research, several mysteries in our solar system remain unsolved, including the formation of the asteroid belt, Uranus' extreme axial tilt, the Sun's corona temperature anomaly, Saturn's hexagonal storm, and the interstellar object 'Oumuamua, each posing significant questions about planetary and solar phenomena.
In 1973, the Concorde 001 aircraft was transformed into a high-altitude observatory to chase the Moon's shadow during a solar eclipse, achieving the longest totality ever recorded at 74 minutes by flying at supersonic speeds, which revolutionized eclipse observation and solar research.
Researchers at Caltech have discovered a new stable equilibrium state of braided magnetic flux ropes, called a double helix, which applies to structures from solar prominences to nebulae, and developed a mathematical model that accurately describes their behavior across vastly different scales, from laboratory experiments to light-year-sized astrophysical phenomena.
European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission involves two spacecraft flying in precise formation to simulate a solar eclipse, allowing scientists to study the sun's corona and space weather while testing advanced technology for future space missions.
European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission involves two spacecraft flying in precise formation to create artificial solar eclipses, allowing scientists to study the Sun's corona and space weather while testing advanced formation-flying technology for future space missions.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe has directly observed the 'helicity barrier' in the Sun's corona, confirming a long-theorized phenomenon that influences how turbulence heats the solar atmosphere and accelerates the solar wind, providing new insights into solar physics and broader astrophysical processes.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe has captured the closest images ever of the Sun, providing new insights into the solar corona, solar wind, and phenomena like switchbacks and coronal mass ejections, which are crucial for understanding space weather and protecting Earth and space technology.
Scientists are developing MESOM, a space mission that aims to observe around 80 total solar eclipses in space, potentially lasting up to 48 minutes, to better understand the sun's corona and space weather phenomena. The mission, if approved, could be in orbit by 2026-28 and would provide unprecedented views of the sun's outer atmosphere.
ESA's Proba-3 mission successfully created an artificial solar eclipse using two satellites in precise formation, revealing detailed images of the Sun's corona and advancing our understanding of solar phenomena and space weather impacts.