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How Two Probes Are Helping Scientists Understand the Mysterious Solar Wind
The Solar Wind: A Complex Plasma
The solar wind is a stream of charged particles emitted from the Sun's upper atmosphere, the corona.
This plasma consists mostly of protons and electrons, traveling at supersonic speeds, and carrying the Sun's magnetic field into interplanetary space.
Understanding the solar wind is essential for space exploration.
Its variability can disrupt satellite communications, damage spacecraft, and even pose a hazard to astronauts.
Two recent space probes, NASA's Parker Solar Probe and the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter, are providing scientists with unprecedented insights into the solar wind's behavior.
Parker Solar Probe: Closer to the Sun
Launched in 2018, Parker Solar Probe is the first spacecraft to “touch” the Sun, venturing within 4 million miles of its surface.
This daring mission is providing scientists with a wealth of data about the solar wind's origins and evolution.
Parker Solar Probe's instruments have detected Alfvén waves, a type of electromagnetic wave that carries energy through the solar wind.
By studying these waves, scientists can gain insights into the mechanisms that accelerate the solar wind.
Solar Orbiter: A Global Perspective
Launched in 2020, Solar Orbiter takes a different approach from Parker Solar Probe.
While Parker Solar Probe focuses on the vicinity of the Sun, Solar Orbiter orbits the Sun from a greater distance, providing a global view of the solar wind.
Solar Orbiter's instruments have captured stunning images of the solar wind's interactions with the surrounding space environment.
These observations are helping scientists to understand how the solar wind plays a role in shaping the heliosphere, the vast bubble of charged particles surrounding our solar system.
Conclusion
The combined data from Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter are revolutionizing our understanding of the solar wind.
These two missions are providing scientists with a wealth of information that is helping to unravel the mysteries of this enigmatic phenomenon.