Good corona news
December 18, 2021 12:56 PM Subscribe
For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere — called the corona — sampling particles and characterizing magnetic fields in this dynamic environment. The second video has footage from within the corona itself.
A good TNG episode, IIFC.
posted by Melismata at 1:07 PM on December 18, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 1:07 PM on December 18, 2021 [4 favorites]
The title of this post had me hoping for a few seconds...
posted by WalkingAround at 1:11 PM on December 18, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by WalkingAround at 1:11 PM on December 18, 2021 [6 favorites]
Set the controls for the heart of the sun.
posted by whatevernot at 1:20 PM on December 18, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by whatevernot at 1:20 PM on December 18, 2021 [5 favorites]
Hope it landed at night.
posted by MtDewd at 1:22 PM on December 18, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by MtDewd at 1:22 PM on December 18, 2021 [5 favorites]
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:25 PM on December 18, 2021 [11 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:25 PM on December 18, 2021 [11 favorites]
I recall recently seeing a comment (tweet?) complaining about the probe. The woman was afraid that it might hit the sun and break pieces off of it. Damaging it. I wish I could find it.
posted by Splunge at 1:49 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Splunge at 1:49 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
send a manned mission
Read about it in The Golden Apples of the Sun, a short story by Ray Bradbury. Or listen to an audio version at the Internet Archive.
Read about it in The Golden Apples of the Sun, a short story by Ray Bradbury. Or listen to an audio version at the Internet Archive.
"South," said the captain.posted by Rash at 1:49 PM on December 18, 2021 [10 favorites]
"But," said his crew, "there simply aren't any directions out here in space."
"When you travel on down toward the sun," replied the captain, "and everything gets yellow and warm and lazy, then you're going in one direction only." He shut his eyes and thought about the smoldering, warm, faraway land, his breath moving gently in his mouth. "South." He nodded slowly to himself. "South."
I've been following its progress since it was launched, and this is ground-breaking stuff. I've been interested in astrophysics since I was about 6, and things like "why is the corona vastly hotter than the star it surrounds?" have been things I haven't been able to get my head around since I was a kid.
posted by kersplunk at 1:52 PM on December 18, 2021
posted by kersplunk at 1:52 PM on December 18, 2021
Explaining what we're looking at:
- The sensor has two field of view that slightly overlap, which is why the video has a weird outline.
- The fast flashing dots are particles like electrons and protons pinging against the sensor, causing ionisation which the sensor interprets as light. Some of these particles bounce in such a way that they travel across the surface of the sensor, making those bright streaks.
- The undulating patterns seen to the left are streams of plasma ejected from the Sun. Powerful magnetic fields cause the odd shapes and motions, and their full complexity was not known until the Parker probe observed it. This video is the best footage of these patterns we have seem so far.
- The slow moving cloud-like line in the background is the Milky Way, and the bright white circles are planets.
posted by Eleven at 2:19 PM on December 18, 2021 [20 favorites]
- The sensor has two field of view that slightly overlap, which is why the video has a weird outline.
- The fast flashing dots are particles like electrons and protons pinging against the sensor, causing ionisation which the sensor interprets as light. Some of these particles bounce in such a way that they travel across the surface of the sensor, making those bright streaks.
- The undulating patterns seen to the left are streams of plasma ejected from the Sun. Powerful magnetic fields cause the odd shapes and motions, and their full complexity was not known until the Parker probe observed it. This video is the best footage of these patterns we have seem so far.
- The slow moving cloud-like line in the background is the Milky Way, and the bright white circles are planets.
posted by Eleven at 2:19 PM on December 18, 2021 [20 favorites]
The slow moving cloud-like line in the background is the Milky Way, and the bright white circles are planets.
To see such a familiar pattern moving in the background made the video instantly less abstract.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 2:41 PM on December 18, 2021 [2 favorites]
To see such a familiar pattern moving in the background made the video instantly less abstract.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 2:41 PM on December 18, 2021 [2 favorites]
i appreciate the harmony between the posts about the space probe zooming through the solar corona and the wingsuit flyer zooming through volcanic vapors.
posted by pmdboi at 2:49 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by pmdboi at 2:49 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the two planets that move past each other are the Earth and the Moon, which would be one of the most distant videos of us ever recorded.
Next time you see the Sun, remember to smile, the Parker probe is watching :D
posted by Eleven at 3:03 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
Next time you see the Sun, remember to smile, the Parker probe is watching :D
posted by Eleven at 3:03 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
I am rewatching Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and it’s bringing tears to my eyes thinking of what he’d say about this.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 3:27 PM on December 18, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 3:27 PM on December 18, 2021 [12 favorites]
I just finished Arthur C. Clarke’s short story collection The Nine Billion Names of God, and I was thinking about his dreadful fascination with our star and all Suns when I read this post. Is there a German word for that giddy feeling, the mingle-mangle of fear and glee, when science fact approaches science fiction? All I’m saying is, don’t stop tiny brave probe, but maybe turn round and come home.
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 3:57 PM on December 18, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 3:57 PM on December 18, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the two planets that move past each other are the Earth and the Moon, which would be one of the most distant videos of us ever recorded.
At that distance ? I don't think so.
posted by Pendragon at 4:15 PM on December 18, 2021 [2 favorites]
At that distance ? I don't think so.
posted by Pendragon at 4:15 PM on December 18, 2021 [2 favorites]
At that distance ? I don't think so.
Having done the math, yeah, you're right. Wishful thinking on my part!
posted by Eleven at 4:29 PM on December 18, 2021
Having done the math, yeah, you're right. Wishful thinking on my part!
posted by Eleven at 4:29 PM on December 18, 2021
Pale Blue Dot (Earth* as photographed by Voyager 1 at about 9 billion miles).
*Occupying less than 1/10th of a pixel.
posted by cenoxo at 4:56 PM on December 18, 2021 [2 favorites]
*Occupying less than 1/10th of a pixel.
posted by cenoxo at 4:56 PM on December 18, 2021 [2 favorites]
Is there a German word for that giddy feeling, the mingle-mangle of fear and glee, when science fact approaches science fiction?
You should definitely read about "The Sublime" in philosophy/art history, e.g.:
"More recently, artist Simon Morley has situated the contemporary sublime within the experience of modern life and its relation to science and technology as it hurtles into the unknown. He connects awe and wonder with terror, writing, 'The sublime experience is fundamentally transformative, about the relationship between disorder and order, and the disruptions of the stable coordinates of time and space. Something rushes in and we are profoundly altered.'"
posted by thebots at 4:58 PM on December 18, 2021 [6 favorites]
You should definitely read about "The Sublime" in philosophy/art history, e.g.:
"More recently, artist Simon Morley has situated the contemporary sublime within the experience of modern life and its relation to science and technology as it hurtles into the unknown. He connects awe and wonder with terror, writing, 'The sublime experience is fundamentally transformative, about the relationship between disorder and order, and the disruptions of the stable coordinates of time and space. Something rushes in and we are profoundly altered.'"
posted by thebots at 4:58 PM on December 18, 2021 [6 favorites]
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the two planets that move past each other are the Earth and the Moon, which would be one of the most distant videos of us ever recorded.
Earth and Jupiter I read elsewhere, I don't recall exactly atm.
posted by calamari kid at 6:47 PM on December 18, 2021
Earth and Jupiter I read elsewhere, I don't recall exactly atm.
posted by calamari kid at 6:47 PM on December 18, 2021
Having done the math, yeah, you're right. Wishful thinking on my part!
Well, if that was the earth and our moon, it was still a pretty awesome view. The 'pale blue dot' always felt kind of abstract and conceptual to me.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:54 PM on December 18, 2021
Well, if that was the earth and our moon, it was still a pretty awesome view. The 'pale blue dot' always felt kind of abstract and conceptual to me.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:54 PM on December 18, 2021
In other, perhaps less immediately spectacular solar news, the world's largest solar telescope also officially finished construction and began operations commissioning on Dec. 8th.
posted by SunSnork at 7:52 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by SunSnork at 7:52 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
The whole pandemic the Sun has been going out most days without a mask. I’m not surprised it’s got corona.
posted by interogative mood at 7:58 PM on December 18, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by interogative mood at 7:58 PM on December 18, 2021 [10 favorites]
Hotblack Desatio was unavailable for comment.
posted by pompomtom at 8:37 PM on December 18, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by pompomtom at 8:37 PM on December 18, 2021 [4 favorites]
Well of course not. He's spending the year dead for tax purposes
posted by Maaik at 8:39 PM on December 18, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Maaik at 8:39 PM on December 18, 2021 [5 favorites]
They could’ve named the spacecraft Icarus.
I understand that might have tempted fate. But it seems that humankind has, finally, constructed a craft that touched the sun without it being a catastrophe.
posted by darkstar at 10:06 PM on December 18, 2021 [2 favorites]
I understand that might have tempted fate. But it seems that humankind has, finally, constructed a craft that touched the sun without it being a catastrophe.
posted by darkstar at 10:06 PM on December 18, 2021 [2 favorites]
"Only dream I ever have... is it the surface of the sun? Everytime I shut my eyes... it's always the same." - Sunshine
Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.
posted by Crystalinne at 10:22 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.
posted by Crystalinne at 10:22 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
Getting touched by the Sun – Captain Kaneda’s Death, Sunshine (2007).
posted by cenoxo at 11:12 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by cenoxo at 11:12 PM on December 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
Amazing!
posted by Space Kitty at 6:59 PM on December 19, 2021
posted by Space Kitty at 6:59 PM on December 19, 2021
This is super cool!
Traveling to the Sun: Why Won’t Parker Solar Probe Melt?, NASA, July 19, 2018:
posted by cenoxo at 7:50 AM on December 20, 2021 [11 favorites]
Traveling to the Sun: Why Won’t Parker Solar Probe Melt?, NASA, July 19, 2018:
…The Science Behind Why It Won’t MeltCooling details follow in the article.
One key to understanding what keeps the spacecraft and its instruments safe, is understanding the concept of heat versus temperature. Counterintuitively, high temperatures do not always translate to actually heating another object.
In space, the temperature can be thousands of degrees without providing significant heat to a given object or feeling hot. Why? Temperature measures how fast particles are moving, whereas heat measures the total amount of energy that they transfer. Particles may be moving fast (high temperature), but if there are very few of them, they won’t transfer much energy (low heat). Since space is mostly empty, there are very few particles that can transfer energy to the spacecraft.
The corona through which Parker Solar Probe flies, for example, has an extremely high temperature but very low density. Think of the difference between putting your hand in a hot oven versus putting it in a pot of boiling water (don’t try this at home!) — in the oven, your hand can withstand significantly hotter temperatures for longer than in the water where it has to interact with many more particles. Similarly, compared to the visible surface of the Sun, the corona is less dense, so the spacecraft interacts with fewer hot particles and doesn’t receive as much heat.
That means that while Parker Solar Probe will be traveling through a space with temperatures of several million degrees, the surface of the heat shield that faces the Sun will only get heated to about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1,400 degrees Celsius)….
posted by cenoxo at 7:50 AM on December 20, 2021 [11 favorites]
Outstanding link and explanation, cenoxo — thank you!
posted by darkstar at 2:30 PM on December 20, 2021
posted by darkstar at 2:30 PM on December 20, 2021
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Of course, you'd have to do it at night.
posted by acb at 1:05 PM on December 18, 2021 [32 favorites]