Exploring the Sun: Understanding Space Weather and its Impact on Earth’s Magnetic Field
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What NASA’s Historic Sun Mission Today Has to Do With 2024’s Northern Lights and Eclipse
On April 8, 2024, a rare total solar eclipse took place across North America, offering a unique opportunity for scientists to study the sun’s corona. Little did we know that this event was also connected to NASA’s historic Parker Solar Probe mission.
Parker Solar Probe has been on a mission since its launch in 2018 to explore the sun’s corona and understand the origins of space weather. This outer atmosphere of the sun, only visible during total solar eclipses or through spacecraft like Parker, reaches temperatures of several million degrees Fahrenheit. It is here that the solar wind originates.
In an interview with Forbes, Dr. Nour Raouafi from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory revealed that the data collected by Parker has been crucial in understanding how coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are formed and structured. CMEs, when they hit our magnetosphere, can cause geomagnetic storms that result in spectacular displays of aurora borealis, as we saw on May 24 and October 28.
The scientist explained that these massive clouds of charged particles clean out the space ahead of them, leaving a near-perfect vacuum behind. It’s no wonder then that when one of these CMEs hits our magnetosphere, it causes havoc, resulting in intense global displays of aurora borealis.
This knowledge is crucial to predicting and understanding space weather events that can affect Earth’s magnetic field. The data collected by Parker Solar Probe has helped us better comprehend the relationship between the solar wind and the sun’s corona.
NASA’s historic mission is also a testament to human innovation and exploration. To achieve its close flyby of the sun, Parker Solar Probe had to utilize seven gravity assists from Venus to propel it closer to the star.
As we move forward in understanding the mechanisms behind space weather, NASA’s research will continue to have significant implications for our daily lives.
Source: http://www.forbes.com
