NASA’s Solar Probe Did the Impossible, Here’s How

preview_player
Показать описание
The Parker Solar Probe just made a historic flyby of the Sun. For the first time, the satellite passed through the Alfvén Critical Surface, which is where the Sun's atmosphere ends. This milestone revealed a lot about the Sun, but can also teach us a little bit more about life on Earth.

Solar wind is made up of streams of charged particles and gas that are propelled by the Sun at millions of kilometers per second throughout the Solar System. These particles can ultimately damage our satellites, like those used for GPS and phone calls. But one the most important questions that Parker needed to answer is where this Alfven Critical surface lies, and in 2021, it made a historic discovery

After spending five hours within the upper atmosphere, the probe observed that both the energy and pressure of the Sun’s magnetic field were stronger than that of the particles within it. This meant that the forces from the Sun were strong enough to maintain control of the particles, essentially keeping them close to the center of the sun.

However, when Parker rose further away, the reverse was apparent and the forces were no longer strong enough to trap the particles and they were propelled into the Solar System. This was evidence that Parker passed through the Alfven Critical surface, like flying into the eye of a Hurricane where it’s most calm, and then returning to a barrage of wind. And even more surprising the critical surface is not a perfect sphere, Parker detected that it’s actually made up of spikes and valleys.

#nasa #space #nasasolarprobe #science #seeker #elements

Read More:
How a rather mundane space storm knocked out 40 SpaceX satellites
When the second surprise solar storm hit, however, it was oriented in such a way as to cause the motion of Earth’s upper atmosphere to reverse direction, Skov said. The friction and energy of the two opposing forces released heat in quantities more than models had anticipated — similar to the frictional heat released when trying to stop and reverse a moving bicycle tire with your hand.

Switchbacks Science: Explaining Parker Solar Probe’s Magnetic Puzzle
When NASA’s Parker Solar Probe sent back the first observations from its voyage to the Sun, scientists found signs of a wild ocean of currents and waves quite unlike the near-Earth space much closer to our planet. This ocean was spiked with what became known as switchbacks: rapid flips in the Sun’s magnetic field that reversed direction like a zig-zagging mountain road.

Venus Shows Its Hot, Cloudy Side
The single camera instrument, known as the Wide-Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe, or WISPR, is not designed to look directly at the sun, which is far too bright, especially at close distances. Rather, WISPR peers to the side, at charged particles known as the solar wind that emanate from the sun at a million miles per hour.

Thumbnail Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben
____________________

Elements is more than just a science show. It’s your science-loving best friend, tasked with keeping you updated and interested in the compelling, innovative, and groundbreaking science that's happening all around us. Join our passionate hosts as they help break down and present fascinating science, from quarks to quantum theory and beyond.

Seeker empowers the curious to understand the science shaping our world. We tell award-winning stories about the natural forces and groundbreaking innovations that impact our lives, our planet, and our universe.

Рекомендации по теме
Комментарии
Автор

We got so excited with all the new updates and we said “millions” when in fact solar wind travels at hundreds kilometers per second. Thanks for all your help on spotting this!

Seeker
Автор

1:03
"at millions of kilometers per second"

the speed of light is 299, 792 km/s, so i guess the solar wind travels at warp3 or more

hwthwt
Автор

1:00 "millions of kilometers per seconds" ? gne ?

cofa
Автор

Millions of km/s... nah.. you have to check that. Speed of light is like 300 000km/s

Maviation
Автор

All the discoveries and photos that the Parker Solar Probe has made are marvelous. But what amazes me the most is the engineering that went into creating this probe that can fly So Close to the 😎!!!

curtisdaniel
Автор

1:02 solar winds and charged particles travelling at millions of kilometres a second. Funny but I thought light was the fastest at 300, 000km/s

Veeger
Автор

1:02 millions of kilometres per second?
This is the second time this channel is making the same mistake.

babayada
Автор

Millions of kilometers per second? We sure about that? Hahaha amazing video, though!

victorborges
Автор

So now do we redefine what it means to „touch“ the sun with every close encounter of the Parker solar probe?
You can’t say twice that something happened for the 1st time!

stefanklass
Автор

1:02 millions km/s? Isint that too much? Isn't light speed limit and is 300.000km/s?

dmris
Автор

Great delivery; definitely want more content from this host.

Sinazok
Автор

RA: "Hi little human probe!"

fundemort
Автор

This is the third time that I've heard this story in as many months saying that we just touched the Sun

-HighTide
Автор

This was boring af. Like no crap the sun is our host star. Get excited and make me beleave you enjoy the subject.

mbdzel
Автор

Why make a music video that makes it annoying to concentrate on the content? Imagine there were people who interested in the content? I know, it is an audacious claim to make, but I think there are people who are interested in scientific content!

boredgrass
Автор

Affordable housing on the sun with free geothermal and solar power for the air conditioning systems. Warmer than Mars.

truetech
Автор

Toughbuilt Industries TBLT STOCK to the moon soon 🔥

Uneducatedtruth
Автор

The speed of light is 299, 792 kilometers per second.

xlcoldj
Автор

Obviously he meant millions of meters per second, or kilometers per hour.

therombaro
Автор

Escanor didn’t give permission to touch his sun!

Zen_Power