Yesterday December 24th, the Christmas Eveperhaps while we admired it theta Geminid swarmsomething extraordinary happened in the sky: the space probe Parker of NASA “challenged” the Sun, getting closer to 6.1 million kilometersnever achieved before.
At this distance Parker experienced the scorching heat of the external atmosphere of our star, the corona, and we therefore anxiously await to know if it has survived (the next official communication on its condition will arrive on December 27).
As stated on the NASA website, the probe, launched in 2018, travels at one speed of 692.017 km/hand is designed to withstand temperatures up to 982°Cas the mission had precisely the objective of reaching the thin outer atmosphere of the sun (the corona) to help scientists study our star more closely.
In particular, scientists hope to solve a “long-standing” mystery, the so-called ‘coronal heating problem‘, or that “strangeness” whereby, despite being further away from the sun’s main energy source (its nucleus), the corona is much hotter than the surface of the sunthe photosphere.
The flyby, which on paper took place on 24 December 2024 at 12.53pm Italian time, is the 22nd close pass of the probe to the sun, and it will not be the last given that at least two more are planned (22 March and 19 June 2025 ). But it’s the closest he’s ever gotten and will ever get.
The clarification “on paper” is a must, because the Space Agency had to lose contact with the probe during this flyby, and the first proof that Parker survived will come on December 27tha day in which we will (hopefully) be able to admire one history page actually written.
Sources: Space.com / Nasa
