NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Mission
Recently for the first time, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has ‘touched’ the Sun to find out about the source of the solar wind.
Solar wind discovery made by probe:
- The strong currents of the solar wind are generated by sudden bursts of energy release. This energy is released during rapid realignment of magnetic fields.
- Probes have discovered that coronal holes are the size of “shower heads”. These consist of funnels placed mostly evenly spaced over the material. Coronal holes are dark and relatively less hot regions present in the outer atmosphere of the Sun.
Significance of this discovery:
- This mission will help in understanding how the Sun releases energy. Plus, how it operates geomagnetic storms, which are a threat to communications networks. Solar storms can be better predicted.
- The solar wind is a continuous flow of plasma, which consists of charged particles such as protons and electrons.
- It also includes part of the solar magnetic field and extends well beyond the corona. They interact through the planets and the interstellar medium.
- Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is also planning to launch Aditya – L1 mission this year. It will be the first Indian space mission to observe the Sun and the Solar Corona.
- It will be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point-1 (LI) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from Earth.
Source – The Hindu
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