Nasa Parker Solar Probe touch the Sun
NASA Parker solar probe has
become the first spacecraft to touch the sun. It flew into and through the sun
upper atmosphere called the corona corona is the outer most region of the solar
atmosphere and its mysterious region
Corona becomes visible from the
earth during a total solar eclipse. its temperature is about 1 million degrees
Celsius, that's why hotter than the surface of the sun which is a mere 5700
Celsius. scientists haven't been able to explain the anomalous heating of the
corona. To solve the mysterious of the corona we had to send a probe to the sun.
NASA launched the Parker solar probe in 2018 to study the solar corona and after three years of journey its finally hit its target. In its plan journey of seven years it is expected to make 26 close approaches to the sun. The April 2021 approaches was the 8th and the first to enter the corona. Remained inside the solar atmosphere for nearly five hours during this venture, Parker entered the corona its camera took some spectacular images of plasma streams around it.
How Nasa Parker Solar Probe survive without melting?
Important question is that how
did it survive there without melting?
Several things keep the Parker
space probe working under such conditions. The first is its white eat she led
reflects off the front and are keeping things cool at the back the shield is
made of two materials carbon carbon and carbon foam. Secondly solar limb
sensors keep the heat shield in the right configuration. Then the solar probe
circulates water to prevent the solar cells from overheating. and finally, the
corona has a high temperature, but it isn't dense. the sun is made of plasma
particles and their energy and temperature are proportional while the corona
temperature is over 1,000,000 degrees Celsius, the density of those particles
in the corona is significantly less.
Hence there are very few
particles that test the probe. Parker made several crucial discoveries in the
same upper atmosphere. it detected fluctuation in the solar magnetic field as
it entered the corona. the solar wind brushes out outside the corona pushing
the solar material away. but inside the
magnetic field is much stronger and the solar materials moves slower. The
boundary between the two is known as the Alfven critical structure. Parker
found that instead of smooth transition, the structure is wrinkled, and this
happens because of the huge flow of particles that escape the corona.
What Nasa Parker Solar Probe will study about sun?
Parker also investigated a phenomenon known as solar switchbacks. These are the Z-shaped kinks in the SolarWinds magnetic field. We as a scientist known about switchbacks since the 1990s, but now parker has detected them inside the solar atmosphere. Probably, some of the switchbacks come from the lower corona. Still, it's not yet known that where or how they form. Parker dipped as low as 18.4 solar radii during its corona drive. It is now aiming to go as close as 9.86 solar Radii from the Suns centre. we can expect to get some fascinating answers in the future.
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