highlights

its the parker solar satellite reached sun 

a 60 years of NASA'S dream comes true

WHY IN NEWS

A NASA Spacecraft Has 'Touched' the Sun for the First Time Ever ;The Solar System made it to the sun's upper atmosphere, gathering data to aid scientists improve their understanding of our solar system's core . Around 60 years ago, NASA set a mission to reach the sun in order to answer basic questions about our solar system's core, and the Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018.In a news release, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Research Mission Directorate, comments, 'Parker Solar Probe 'touching the sun' is a landmark moment for solar science and a really spectacular effort.' 'Not only does this achievement provide us a better understanding of our Sun's evolution and its effects on our solar system, but what we learn about our own star tells us more about stars across the universe.' Scientists reported the achievement at a conference of the American Geophysical Union yesterday.

Since its launch in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe has been circling the sun, getting closer with each circle. According to Alexandra Witze of Nature, the probe ultimately passed into the outer atmosphere on April 28 and lingered there for almost five hours. The probe passed through the Alfvén critical surface, which marks the transition from the sun's atmosphere to solar winds, which are charged particles that emanate from the corona and carry a magnetic field. According to a news statement from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), researchers created and monitor the Solar Probe Cup, a critical instrument aboard the spacecraft that gathers particles from the sun's atmosphere. According to data from the Solar Probe Cup, the Parker Solar Probe dipped into the corona three times on April 28, remaining in the outer atmosphere for around five hours at one point. The gadget is built of heat-resistant chemicals including tungsten, niobium, molybdenum, and sapphire to withstand the sun's extreme temperatures. 

'The entire mission's purpose is to figure out how the Sun operates. This can be done by flying into the solar atmosphere 'According to Michael Stevens, a CfA astrophysicist, ' 'The only way to do so is for the spacecraft to pass the outer limit, known as the Alfvén point by scientists. As a result, one of the most important aspects of this mission is to be able to determine whether or not we have passed this vital juncture.' The limit was previously estimated to lie between 4.3 and 8.6 million miles distant from the sun's surface by scientists. The Parker Solar Probe validates their predictions, reaching the barrier at 8.1 million miles distant.

According to experts, the border was not a smooth sphere, but rather included 'spikes and valleys.' According to the press release, understanding how these wrinkles match up with solar activity might help scientists better comprehend the dynamics between the sun, its atmosphere, and solar wind. In addition, the spacecraft revealed fresh information regarding switchbacks, which are zigzag-shaped patterns in the solar wind. Despite the fact that scientists were already aware of them, data from the probe shows that they originate in the photosphere, the sun's visible surface, and have greater helium concentrations, The Parker Solar Probe assisted in the discovery of some of the switchbacks, but scientists are still arguing how they evolved. Stuart Bale, a coauthor of the study and an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, is optimistic that the data collected by the spacecraft will assist answer the puzzle.