Solar voyager

TODAY'S BIG QUESTION: IS THE SUN GETTING STRANGER?

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2019

ILLUSTRATION BY NASA

The mission will eventually make its closest approach to the sun—a mere four million miles—in December 2024. Already, the details it is beaming back to Earth are incredibly weird, and they’re teaching us valuable lessons about the way the sun works. In particular, data from the probe should help improve forecasts of so-called space weather—solar outbursts that can imperil astronauts, knock out power grids, and fry communications satellites. So as I warm myself up with holiday parties and festive sweaters, I’ll be raising a toast to the tiny probe that’s helping keep us safe from the sun’s wrath.

By Victoria Jaggard, SCIENCE Executive Editor Last week, I celebrated my [number redacted] trip around the sun with delicious birthday cupcakes and ample good cheer. Just a few days later, NASA celebrated initial results from their newest solar voyager: a space probe that really puts my comfortable distance from our home star in perspective. The Parker Solar Probe (pictured) has been spiraling closer to the sun since its launch in 2018 so it can study the ridiculously hot and hellish outer layer, called the corona, in unprecedented detail.