Astrophysics (Index)About

Parker Solar Probe

(PSP, Parker Probe, Solar Probe, Solar Probe Plus, Solar Probe+)
(space probe investigating solar corona)

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP or Parker Probe, earlier known as the Solar Probe, Solar Probe Plus, and Solar Probe+) is a spacecraft launched in 2018 to observe the corona of the Sun from near the corona's outer reaches. It is in an eccentric solar orbit which will be tweaked through Venus flybys as the mission proceeds, to further reduce the perihelion. In January 2021, the probe passed closer to the Sun than any previous spacecraft, roughly 0.1 AU. Instruments:

Close approaches during the mission (distances from the center of the Sun):

solar radii million km AU
PSP perihelion, 1/2021 20.3 14.1 0.09
PSP perihelion, 1/2022 13.3 9.3 0.06
PSP perihelion, eventual goal 9.9 6.9 0.046
for comparison:
solar radius 1 0.696 0.00465
corona (cited values vary) 6 4.2 0.0279
Venus's orbit 156 108.2 0.72
Mercury's orbit 83 57.9 0.387

(Another source cited the corona as extending twice that far, clearly beyond the Parker Probe's nearest encounters.)


(spacecraft,NASA,Sun)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/parker-solar-probe/
http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/
https://sppgway.jhuapl.edu/encounters

Referenced by pages:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
magnetic switchback
solar physics

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