NASA's Parker Solar Probe came within 5.3 million miles (8.5 million kilometers) from the Sun's surface on September 6 at 2:04 a.m. EDT (0604 GMT) during the spacecraft's 13th close approach to the Sun.
Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), said in a statement that the Solar System's star had changed significantly since the spacecraft was launched when the Sun was at its solar minimum and was very quiet. But this time, solar activity is rising and is way higher than previously expected.
Why Was This Approach Special?
The Sun shows signs of activity amid its 11-year cycle, which started in December 2019. The frequency of solar storms, solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and other solar activities are set to increase even further as the Sun reaches its peak, estimated to happen in 2025 when it is in the middle of its solar cycle, Hindustan Times reported.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe encountered a solar flare last week, which is something that it has not yet encountered, even during its close encounter with the Sun. Its closest approach to the Sun was just in time when the star was remarkably active and sported a sunspot the size of Earth when it ejected solar flares and geomagnetic storms.
Raouafi said that nothing has ever flown through a solar event so close to the Sun before, which is exciting as the data the probe would have gathered would be new, and scientists would learn a lot from it.
When the probe was launched three years ago, the Sun was quiet. Now, the solar wind and corona are different, which only gives scientists more material to study and learn next, Space.com reported. The corona is the outer atmosphere of the Sun and the primary target of Parker Solar Probe's observations.
Another reason the encounter between the probe and solar flares is special is that the spacecraft acts as a second eye that observes the Sun and gives more data to scientists. Alongside the Solar Orbiter, a joint project of NASA and ESA, the problem will observe the Sun.
The combined data from the two space missions and ground observatories give scientists more information that will help them draw conclusions and understand the Sun in a bigger picture. Raouafi said that with both Parker and Solar Orbiter, scientists would be able to study the evolution of the solar wind as it passes one spacecraft and then the other.
Parker Solar Probe Built to Withstand Solar Flare
The Hindustan Times report says that the probe will not get damaged by the solar flare as it was built to withstand the heat from close encounters with the Sun.
"Parker Solar Probe is built to withstand whatever the Sun can throw. Every orbit is different, but the mission is a well-oiled machine at this point," Doug Rodgers, APL's science operations center coordinator, said in a NASA blog.
According to NASA, the probe's Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) has captured some CMEs emitted by the Sun during its 10th close encounter in November 2021, which helped scientists make discoveries about CMEs.
Check out more news and information on the Sun in Science Times.
