Sun

A step closer to the Sun’s secrets

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 23:26:29 +0000

A step closer to the Sun’s secrets Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/04/2019 - 16:26

Daniel Verscharen

From Nature: Although the Sun is quite near to us compared with other stars, it has always kept intriguing and fundamental scientific secrets from us.

For instance, we still don’t know how the solar corona — the Sun’s outermost atmosphere — maintains temperatures in excess of one million kelvin, whereas the visible surface has temperatures of just below 6,000 K1. The corona produces the solar wind, an outflow of plasma particles (free ions and electrons) that expands into the space between the planets. In 2018, NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe2 (PSP) with the aim of identifying the mechanisms behind the heating of the corona and the acceleration of the solar wind. Read more...

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Touching the Sun to protect the Earth: A Q&A with Justin Kasper on going where no probe has gone before

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 21:52:09 +0000

Touching the Sun to protect the Earth: A Q&A with Justin Kasper on going where no probe has gone before Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/13/2018 - 15:52

Gabe Cherry

From the The Michigan Engineer News Center: Justin Kasper, professor of climate and space sciences and engineering at the University of Michigan, is a mission principal investigator on the Parker Solar Probe, which is scheduled for launch Aug. 11 from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

“The Parker Solar Probe will help us do a much better job of predicting when a disturbance in the solar wind could hit Earth,” Kasper said.

Kasper describes the data that the new probe will collect as a “Rosetta Stone” for theories about the physics behind coronal mass ejections—dramatic explosions that can hurl massive clouds of the sun’s plasma at Earth. In the worst case, scientists worry that a severe solar storm could wipe out the electric grid for months or years in some parts of the planet. But if better prediction software gives us an early warning, electricity providers can protect the grid and prevent major outages. Read more...

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NASA's Parker Solar Probe Is Headed to the Sun. So, What's Next?

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 21:45:53 +0000

NASA's Parker Solar Probe Is Headed to the Sun. So, What's Next? Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/13/2018 - 15:45

Meghan Bartels

From Space.com: After decades of scientific brainstorming and years of construction, NASA's Parker Solar Probe is safely on its way to flying seven times closer to the sun than any mission has before.

Now that the spacecraft is finally off the ground, it won't be long before scientists can start digging into its data — and that data will keep coming for seven years. Read more...

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