NASA called the Parker Solar Probe's flight 'not only an impressive feat of engineering, but a huge boon for the scientific community.'
Scientists had long theorized that CMEs might interact with interplanetary dust, which is made of particles from asteroids, comets, and more, and carry it outward. The theory was first proposed in a 2003 paper. Guillermo Stenborg, an astrophysicist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory , and the lead author of a paper discussing what the Parker Solar Probe taught scientists, said that the probe showed that exact thing happening.
"These interactions between CMEs and dust were theorized two decades ago, but had not been observed until Parker Solar Probe viewed a CME act like a vacuum cleaner, clearing the dust out of its path," said Stenborg. The CME that the probe observed"displaced the dust all the way out to about 6 million miles from the Sun," NASA said, though that dust was"almost immediately" replenished.
Learning more about how CMEs and space dust interact can help scientists better predict the speed at which CMEs could travel from the sun to Earth, and establish better forecasts for when they may arrive. will continue its mission and travel through the sun's atmosphere. The probe, launched in 2018, travels closer to the sun's surface than any previous spacecraft.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The Parker Solar Probe just flew right through a coronal mass ejectionThe Parker Solar Probe continues to wow astronomers, this time by flying directly through a coronal mass ejection (CME).
Read more »
Sun probe surprises NASA with incredible photo of VenusThe Parker Solar Probe might’ve witnessed something new on Earth’s neighbor
Read more »
NASA is flying a probe to the Sun named after the man who changed our understanding of starsEugene Parker discovered the solar wind that the probe is going to study
Read more »
NASA’s newest spacecraft will fly through the Sun’s scorching hot atmosphereThe Parker Solar Probe is getting closer to our star than any vehicle has before.
Read more »
Remarkable imagery shows NASA probe hit by a solar stormA NASA spacecraft has for the first time flown through a solar eruption, capturing some remarkable imagery along the way.
Read more »