To the Sun

 To reach the impossible and beyond

To reach the Sun and beyond

The Parker Solar Probe is an Unthinkable that became a reality, a mission to study our very own star, Sun. This was deemed impossible and foolish, yet the audacity and curiosity of humankind surely know no bounds. Thus, NASA launched Parker in 2018. 

The probe is expected to reach the outer corona by 2025, the closest approach ever, at 690,000 km/hr. It will tell us about the underlying mechanisms, the flow of heat and magnetic fields, and changes in solar activity and space weather. 

Ever heard of the Carrington event of 1859? It was a massive solar flare, a geomagnetic storm on the corona of the Sun, that destroyed telegraph lines. It was named after the British Astronomer who witnessed the solar flare, Richard Carrington. This effectively showed us that a change in solar activity is all that is needed to render our technology useless. We needed to know how to predict such events that could cause massive destruction.

Enter NASA. They worked on this project for years on end, finding suitable materials to make the probe to the technology used in it. The project was the first ever to be named after a living person, Eugene Parker, the astrophysicist who predicted the existence of solar winds. The probe consists of four instruments: FIELDS, WISPR (Wide Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe), SWEAP (Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons investigation), and Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun.

The orbit of this probe is quite peculiar. Since it has to go very near our Sun, the orbit should gradually decrease. This is done so with the help of Venus' gravity. The probe is set to go nearer to the Sun than Mercury does and thus can withstand extremely high temperatures.  

Curious to know more? Click here for more information.

Stay tuned to our blog for updates on all things astronomy. 

-Namitha (MS22118)