The NASA Parker Solar Probe spacecraft has successfully navigated its 20th close approach to the sun, coming within 4.51 million miles (7.26 million kilometers) of the solar surface. This distance is approximately 5% of the Earth-sun distance and is the closest the probe has ever been to the sun. The spacecraft, launched in 2018, is a car-sized spacecraft designed to study the outer corona of the sun and understand the solar wind and its impact on the solar system.
The Parker Solar Probe’s main objective is to investigate the source of the high-energy particles that make up the solar wind, which dominates the entire solar system. By increasing our understanding of the solar wind, scientists can determine the edge of the solar system more accurately. This knowledge is crucial for predicting space weather, which can cause radio blackouts, damage satellites, harm astronauts, and disrupt electrical grids, as well as create beautiful displays of aurora.
In September 2021, the Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun. CMEs are powerful eruptions of plasma from the solar surface that can cause geomagnetic storms if they are Earth-directed, leading to aurora displays.
NASA is currently celebrating its Heliophysics Big Year, a celebration of solar science and the sun’s influence on Earth and the rest of the solar system. The celebration began with an annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2021, and will end with the Parker Solar Probe’s closest approach to the sun in December 2024. For those interested in learning more about stargazing, I recommend the books “Stargazing in 2024,” “A Stargazing Program For Beginners,” and “When Is The Next Eclipse?”
