Researchers are thrilled Nasa probe passes close to the sun in record time
The computer graphic shows the "Parker Solar Probe" probe of the US space agency NASA on its way to the sun.
Image: dpa
The "Parker Solar Probe" after the heat shield was installed at the very top above the measuring instruments. (archive image)
Image: dpa
The computer graphic shows the Parker Solar Probe on its way to the sun.
Image: dpa
The probe was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in 2018. (archive image)
Image: dpa
The computer graphic shows the "Parker Solar Probe" probe of the US space agency NASA on its way to the sun.
Image: dpa
The "Parker Solar Probe" after the heat shield was installed at the very top above the measuring instruments. (archive image)
Image: dpa
The computer graphic shows the Parker Solar Probe on its way to the sun.
Image: dpa
The probe was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in 2018. (archive image)
Image: dpa
According to researchers' calculations, a space probe has penetrated deeper into the sun's atmosphere than ever before. And it achieved yet another record.
24.12.2024, 22:31
dpa
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- The Nasa probe "Parker Solar Probe" came closer to the sun on Tuesday than any other man-made object before it.
- The probe came within 6.1 million kilometers of the surface of the sun, Nasa's Nicky Fox announced in a video published online.
- The US space agency will only be able to make precise calculations on Friday (local time), as radio contact with the probe has been interrupted for several days due to its proximity to the sun.
According to calculations by the US space agency NASA, a space probe flew closer to the sun at Christmas than any man-made object before it. The "Parker Solar Probe" probe came within 6.1 million kilometers of the surface of the sun at midday. However, this cannot yet be verified as the probe has not been in contact with the Earth for several days.
NASA is not expecting a brief radio signal from the probe until December 27 (US East Coast time). Data will not be available until the end of January, when the probe's main antenna points towards Earth, said astrophysicist Volker Bothmer from the University of Göttingen a few days before the flyby. "But it will take several years until we have evaluated and understood all the data." Bothmer is leading the German participation in the mission and, among other things, co-developed its concept and a wide-angle camera.
Another record
According to NASA calculations, the probe, which was the size of a small car, had a speed of around 690,000 kilometers per hour at its closest point to the sun and withstood temperatures of around 1000 degrees Celsius. It therefore flew faster than any other man-made object to date. To protect the instruments, it has an 11.4 centimeter-thick heat shield, which consists mainly of carbon. According to Nasa, it is even designed for a temperature of around 1400 degrees.
Among other things, the researchers expect to gain insights into the formation of the solar wind, a stream of charged particles that the sun constantly emits, and into exactly how solar storms come about. These are hurled into space after eruptions on the sun.
The first solar probes were launched back in the 1970s. However, the German-American probes "Helios 1" and "Helios 2" kept a suitable distance of around 45 million kilometers from the heat ball.
Deep dive into the solar corona
Launched in August 2018, the 700-kilogram "Parker Solar Probe" orbits the sun in highly elliptical orbits and therefore alternately passes close to and far from the sun. During its first flyby in October 2018, it had already come closer to the sun than any other spacecraft before at 42.7 million kilometers, according to NASA. In 2021, it was the first spacecraft to fly through the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere, known as the corona. In 2023, it even came within just over 7 million kilometers of the surface of the sun.
According to Bothmer, the proximity of around six million kilometers means an even deeper dive into the sun's corona. "This will give us data from areas of the sun's atmosphere that have never been seen before. At this proximity, we will be in the birth regions of the solar wind and solar storms."
For comparison: the Earth is on average around 150 million kilometers away from the sun, while the closest planet to the sun, Mercury, is around 58 million kilometers away.
On March 22 and June 19, the probe is expected to approach the sun again at a distance of around six million kilometers, Bothmer said. What will happen after that is currently being discussed.