June 30, 2024, Sun News: Parker Solar Probe almost reaches the sun today
The top story of the day: Today marks the second-to-last perihelion, or closest approach to the sun, for NASA's Parker Solar Probe. This time, it will pass by the sun by 5.3 million miles, getting closer and closer to its last, record-breaking closest approach of less than 4 million miles, which is anticipated to occur in December 2024. NASA has stated that Parker Solar Probe will "touch" the sun at that last perihelion. When orbiting the sun, the point of closest approach is known as perihelion. Throughout its mission, Parker has taken small measures to approach closer and closer to its perihelion. Its planned perihelion count is 26.
The spacecraft moves a little bit closer to the sun in its orbit after each pass of Venus. The craft stays at the same distance between perihelions until the next Venus flyby. Parker has flown by Venus six times. Its final circuits around the sun are scheduled for June 30 and September 30, respectively, before it performs its seventh and final flyby of Venus on November 6, 2024.
The Parker Solar Probe will then reach its closest perihelion on December 24, 2024, when it will be travelling at over 500,000 mph (800,000 kph) and around 3.9 million miles (6.28 million km) from the sun's surface (the photosphere). The spacecraft has long since eclipsed the marks for the fastest object created by humans and the closest approach to the sun.
Origins of the solar wind: A basic objective of research is to comprehend the solar wind. Therefore, a more detailed list of the riddles that have been solved or generated is available.
Heating of the corona: Evidence in favour of the notion that the high temperatures in the corona are mostly caused by magnetic waves and small-scale magnetic reconnection events.
Temperature profiles: By measuring the temperatures of various solar wind constituents, we can better understand how heat works.
Variations in solar wind speed: Research indicates that the solar wind speeds up noticeably as it gets closer to the sun.
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