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The sun emits so much energy that it tells you not to look directly at it even if it is far from the earth. The parker solar probe, which is continuing to observe the sun’s blazing surface at close range, sent the latest data to unravel the solar activity mystery.
The Parker Solu probe, which left Earth on August 12, 2018, approaches the sun more than any other spacecraft so far and attempts to release the solar catapult. According to NASA, the Parker Solu probe, which rushes in an intensely heated environment, is equipped with a 11.43cm-thick carbon heat-resistant shield that can withstand up to 1,337 degrees Celsius.
In the future, the probe will go through an elliptical orbit and perform several swing-bys on Venus to approach the Sun, eventually reaching 5.9 million kilometers from the Sun’s surface. It has already approached the sun three times, and the results of the analysis of the data collected in November 2018 and the second in April 2019 were published in Nature.
There are still many mysteries in the sun. One of these is temperature. In the sun, the core of the fusion reaction takes place is the hottest, and the temperature decreases as it goes outward such as the radiation layer, convection layer, chromosphere, photosphere, and corona. But why do the last three layers reverse? The temperature on the corona side is higher than that of the chromosphere and the chromosphere.
In addition, the electrons and cations emitted at supersonic speed from the corona are called solar wind, and the structure of this generation has not been elucidated. In addition to the imaging device, the Parker Solu probe is equipped with particle and electromagnetic plasma observation equipment, and is expected to highlight the appearance of the sun that has not been seen from Earth until now by observing the solar corona from a close distance.
According to the observations so far, the most important thing is the complex movement of the solar wind. By the time the solar wind bounced off the corona hole, that is, the corona hole and reached Earth, it draws a clean straight line. However, when the corona just jumped out, the movement of the solar wind is not a straight line, but a complex zigzag shape. This is due to magnetic field reversal, and it is said that it was observed more than 1,000 times during the 11-day observation period. The phenomenon that occurs frequently around the sun is newly named switchback.
Also, observation of the solar wind particle movement revealed that the particles accelerate when the switchback occurs. Rather than drawing clean radiation from the sun, the solar wind shakes quickly through the switchback, creating a complex shape. Of course, why switchback occurs is still unclear.
Another thing revealed about the solar wind is that the sun rotates every 27 days. Therefore, it has been believed that the solar wind moves at the same speed as the sun’s rotation before it bounces off the sun. This is compared to a merry-go-round that the solar atmosphere is born from that atmosphere based on the center of the sun, and the solar wind is rotating together. And the farther away from the center, the faster it rotates.
In this case, the solar wind rotates at high speed from the outermost point, but jumps at some point and radially away from the sun from here. The only thing that has been observed so far has been the solar wind after jumping off this merry-go-round. This Parker Solu probe was the first to observe the solar wind on a merry-go-round.
It is also said that the particle meter data shows that it is moving at 36-50 km/sec, which is 10 times faster than previously predicted. This is much faster than the rotation of the sun, but why it is still a mystery. As the decisive moment has not been identified, an explanation of the mechanism by which the solar wind is released from rotational motion is expected in the future.
There is also a dust free zone. In outer space between the Earth and the Sun, there are 99% gas and 1% dust, tiny solid particles about 1 micrometer in size. The imaging device mounted on the Parker Solu probe captures the scattering of the sun by gas and dust, and is consistent with data that have been observed from Earth so far. But as the sun got closer, the scattering caused by dust decreased. This means that there is a dust free zone around the sun. This area was predicted by the theory that dust would melt with its heat as it approaches the sun, but it has not been observed so far.
In addition, the complex activity of the solar corona was also observed through images that captured the sun up close. The appearance of the sun that cannot be seen on Earth, such as the emission of particles from the corona, a tube-shaped magnet called a flux rope, and the presence of a peculiar magnetic field, are being revealed one after another.
The particle meter data revealed that the solar corona showed unconfirmed microscopic particle emission. Part of the particle acceleration pattern is also detected, and it is thought that this relatively small emission triggers and leads to large emission such as solar flare. Further research in the future could lead to predictions of solar flares earlier, which could further improve the precision of space weather forecasts.
The Parker Solu probe has 24 opportunities to approach the sun over the next six years. Every time I narrow the distance from the sun. The reason why higher quality observation data are expected to be obtained in the future is that the data from the Parker Solu probe can solve even the questions of solar system physics that have not been revealed so far. In the near future, the European Space Agency’s ESA will also release its own solar orbiter. Joint research with the Parker Solu probe can be expected.
The sun repeats the increase and decrease of solar surface activity every 11 years, and now it is heading towards its peak activity after completing its minimum activity. In the future, as the Parker Solu probe approaches the sun, the solar surface activity will increase, so we may be able to witness such a sight. The average distance from the sun to the earth is 150 million kilometers. Much information is lost between 8 minutes and 19 seconds as the sun travels this distance. So, if you observe it from a point closer to the sun, you can see a shape of the sun that you have never seen. The next time the Parker Solu probe re-enters the solar corona is January 29, 2020. Related information can be found here .
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