In the year 2018, Parker Solar Probe was launched by NASA. The main purpose of the probe is to observe the sun’s outer corona.
Key features
The Probe travels through the sun’s atmosphere. As of the month of November 2021, the Parker Solar Probe will be the only probe closest to the Sun. The probe used the gravity of Venus to bring its orbit closer to the Sun. The shortest reachable distance for the probe from the sun is 3.9 million miles.
Findings
In the year 2021, the probe discovered that the upper atmosphere of Venus was changing during the solar cycle. The solar cycle lasts 11 earth years.
Objective of the Parker Solar Probe
The probe is designed to track how heat and energy travel through the solar corona. The purpose is also to find something that accelerates the solar wind. The probe also looks into tracking the flow of energy that accelerates and heats the solar corona and the solar wind. It also determines the structure and dynamics of the plasma and magnetic field at the solar wind source and also studies the mechanism of accelerating and transporting energy particles.
About corona of the sun
Corona is much hotter than the sun’s surface. This is where the solar wind originates and is a continuous flowing of charged particles. Solar winds are unpredictable and cause much disturbances in the earth’s magnetic field. Therefore, learning about the sun’s corona is extremely necessary.
Issues faced by the probe
In the month of November 2021, the impact of dust on the solar probe increased at ultra-fast speeds. This caused a plasma explosion at the probe. The probe is NASA’s fastest flying spacecraft and flies at 7,20,000 km / h. This means that even the slightest amount of dust can cause an explosion which makes the probe a sandblasted spacecraft. On average, it’s covered in ultra-fast dust every 12 seconds. The dust particles come from the clouds in the zodiac and are spread through the solar system. They come from asteroids and comets. These dust particles are 2 to 20 micrometers in size. Friction heats the surface of the probe as it heats the probe, which moves at high speed. The resulting heat is so high that the particles evaporate to form a plasma. Plasma is the same physical state that forms a star. Plasma can explode if dust particles collide with the probe above 10,780 km / h.