Santa and his reindeer were not the only bodies making a celestial journey on 24 December: Nasa has revealed that its Parker solar probe successfully completed its closest-ever approach to the sun and remains in good health.
It is the closest any human-made object has ever come to our star, with the probe experiencing temperatures of up to 982C (1,800F) and intense radiation.
Dr Nicola Fox, Nasa’s head of science, said: “It is 3.8m miles from the sun’s surface. It is breaking all of these records and it’s a just a total ‘Yay, we did it!’ moment.”
Launched in 2018, the Parker solar probe has spent the past few years completing 21 orbits around the sun, with flybys of Venus gradually shifting its path closer to our star.
The probe, which is the size of a small car, has been designed to make observations of the sun’s upper atmosphere, known as the corona, and carries four instrument suites.
According to Nasa, the probe is protected from the extreme environment it is encountering by a 4.5in 11.43cm carbon-composite shield, allowing it to survive temperatures up to 1,377C (2500F).
The probe first “touched” the sun in 2021, yielding new insights into the magnetically intense region, but the latest achievement brought the solar probe closer than ever before.
Nasa said: “This closeup study of the sun allows Parker solar probe to take measurements that help scientists better understand how material in this region gets heated to millions of degrees, trace the origin of the solar wind (a continuous flow of material escaping the sun), and discover how energetic particles are accelerated to near-light speed.”
Solar wind has important implications for life on Earth: while it is typically deflected by Earth’s magnetic field, the particles can interact with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere to produce the phenomena of the northern and southern lights. However, large ejections of particles from the sun can be problematic, interfering with the Earth’s magnetic field and disrupting power grids and communication systems.
Travelling at 430,000mph (692,000km/h), the Parker solar probe was out of contact with scientists during its closest approach to the sun. However, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Maryland in the US received a signal from the probe just before midnight EST on Boxing Day indicating that it was in good health and operating normally. Detailed data on its status is expected to be sent back to Earth on New Year’s Day.
The probe was expected to complete 24 orbits of the sun over a seven-year period, meaning the mission is now nearing its conclusion. The probe is named after the late Dr Eugene N Parker, who first proposed the theory of solar wind.
Dr Julia Stawarz of Northumbria University described the probe’s closest approach to the sun as an amazing achievement.
“The measurements from Parker solar probe will help us to answer some of the most fundamental questions about how the sun and its extended atmosphere behave that we have had since the very beginning of the space age,” she said.
