Closest Ever Images Of The Sun Captured

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - NASA's Parker Solar Probe has taken the closest ever images to the Sun, captured 3.8 million miles from the solar surface.

The new close-up images show features in the solar wind, the constant stream of electrically charged subatomic particles released by the Sun that rage across the solar system at speeds exceeding 1 million miles an hour.

These images, and other data, are helping scientists better understand the Sun's influence across the solar system, including events that can affect Earth.

Parker Solar Probe captured stunning new images from within the Sun's atmosphere during its record-breaking pass by the Sun late last year, NASA said in a press release.

Parker Solar Probe started its closest approach to the Sun on December 24, flying just 3.8 million miles from the solar surface. As it skimmed through the Sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona, in the days around the perihelion, it collected data with an array of scientific instruments, including the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe, or WISPR.

'Parker Solar Probe has once again transported us into the dynamic atmosphere of our closest star,' said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. 'We are witnessing where space weather threats to Earth begin, with our eyes, not just with models. This new data will help us vastly improve our space weather predictions to ensure the safety of our astronauts and the protection of our technology here on Earth and throughout the solar system.'

The new WISPR images reveal the corona and solar wind, a constant stream of electrically charged particles from the Sun that rage across the solar system. The solar wind expands throughout of the solar system with wide-ranging effects. Together with outbursts of material and magnetic currents from the Sun, it helps generate auroras, strip planetary atmospheres, and induce electric currents that can overwhelm power grids and affect communications at Earth.

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