(NASA/JPL)
Another solar probe is in the news. The Parker solar probe has completed its tenth close approach to the Sun, setting new records for speed and proximity to our star.
It was only 8.5 million kilometers from the photosphere, while moving at a maximum speed of 163 kilometers per second.
Parker was launched into space in 2018 and has so far made ten encounters with the Sun out of the planned 24.
It is conducting research into the solar wind and the outer layers of the Sun, with each subsequent perihelion getting closer to the star.
At the end of 2024, the probe will practically enter the Sun's atmosphere, being near the Alfvén point, where the solar wind is accelerating so much that it leaves the star.
On November 16, 2021, the probe began its tenth close encounter with the Sun, and on November 22 flew at a minimum distance of 8.5 million kilometers from the star's photosphere.
(NASA/JPL)
This is a record value, equivalent to 22 distances from the Earth to the Moon. In this case, the ship moved at a speed of 163 kilometers per second relative to the Sun.
The tenth rendezvous phase ended on November 26, it is expected that between December 23 and January 9, the probe will transmit all the collected scientific data to Earth.
The Parker has already made many unique discoveries. It showed the structure of the solar wind, determined the mechanisms of acceleration of particles near the Sun
Also saw the trail of the asteroid Phaethon and the circumsolar dust ring near Venus.
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