For the first time in history, a man-made spacecraft entered the upper atmosphere of the Sun

For the first time in history, a spacecraft NASA Parker Solar Probe flew into the upper layers of the Sun's atmosphere (the so-called corona) and collected valuable data on the magnetic fields and particles of our star.

This event was just a giant leap in solar science. So let's find out how this was achieved and what data was obtained during this.

Parker's first flyby in a solar atmosphere and unique data

The Parker Solar Probe was created specifically to study our Sun and launched in 2018 from Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA). Its main task is to get as close as possible to the Sun, collect valuable data and eventually crash into our star.

As you know, the Sun does not have a solid surface like the Earth, but at the same time it has its own, albeit incredibly heated, atmosphere, which is composed of solar material bound to the star by gravitational and magnetic interactions.

The boundary of the solar atmosphere is considered to be the so-called Alphen surface - an area in which gravity and the magnetic field is already so weak that they are unable to keep the escaping from the surface under the influence of heat and pressure material. It is here that the solar wind is formed, which subsequently scatters throughout the entire solar system.

Scientists have only roughly defined this boundary and believed that it is located in the range from 10 to 20 solar radii from the surface of the Sun (approximately 6.9 to 13.8 million kilometers).

And on April 28, 2021, during its eighth orbit around the Sun, the Parker Solar Probe probe recorded magnetic disturbances and a particle flux at an altitude of 18.8 solar radii. And, after analyzing this data, scientists came to the conclusion that the apparatus at an altitude of 13 million kilometers entered the Sun's atmosphere for the first time in history.

As the instruments showed, during this flight, the device either entered or exited the upper layers of the Sun's atmosphere, which allowed to conclude that this Alphen line does not have a spherical surface, as was previously thought, but has "holes" and "Peaks".

But that's not all. At some point, the spacecraft dropped below 15 radii and passed through the so-called pseudo streamer - a massive structure that is observed from Earth only during periods of solar eclipses.

Scientists have compared this flight as flying through the "eye of the storm." And the data collected in this area showed that here magnetic fields completely control the flow of particles, which means that with a probability of 100%, Parker Solar Probe is located in the solar atmosphere.

This only first pass through the solar atmosphere lasted only a couple of hours, and scientists are looking forward to new passages. The closest one will take place in January 2022.

Scientists are in anticipation of new data, because, analyzing them, they can make new amazing discoveries and, in particular, are likely to answer the question, which has been tormenting physicists for more than a dozen years: Why the solar corona can heat up to millions of degrees while the surface of the Sun itself remains much colder?

Well, let's look forward to new data from Parker Solar Probe, which will undoubtedly bring new discoveries.

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