Video shows NASA's Parker Solar Probe's Close Encounter with a Coronal Mass Ejection

The video released by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory shows the moment Parker Solar Probe dives straight into an impromptu CME , stormy Space weather looks much like driving into a squall on Earth.

On Sept. 5, 2022, NASA's Parker Solar Probe was about to make its 13th close approach to the Sun when a coronal mass ejection (CME) -- a powerful explosion of magnetic fields and plasma -- erupted right in front of it. The Sun is depicted off to the left in the video. Parker Solar Probe reaches closest approach on Sept. 6, which was the perihelion event. This video is a composite collected by the Wide Field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument onboard, which captured the entire event. The CME's explosion becomes visible starting around 14 seconds into the video. Parker at first skirted along the CME's flank before passing into it, passing behind the leading edge of the explosion before exiting out the other side.

In all, Parker spent roughly two days observing the CME,becoming the first spacecraft ever to fly through a powerful solar explosion near the Sun. The information collected provides researchers with an unparalleled view into these stellar events and an opportunity to study them early in their evolution for the first time.

Congratulations Parker.

Imagine if we could somehow harness all that energy? Really cool video, amazing actually.
ETA; You're so close to 100k likes. Glad I could help.

First, I love this and your many other posts. Ty.

So, a few questions...full disclosure, I watched the vid with no audio due to work. Tell me to watch again if the vid answers these.

1. How wide of a field are we actually seeing? As a matter of perspective, I am wondering if we are seeing a lot of fast moving particles or a smaller field that makes a few look a lot more impressive.

2. What are those particles or streaks?

3. How are we able to see this video? Wouldn't the amount of energy scramble any Pic and/or transmission?

4. How far are we from the center of the sun at this point?

I am not asking as a challenge, these are honest questions.

I am starting to write a story in which the sun plays a role and have started to do research...this video is amazing!

SPAM

a reply to: theatreboy

I admit my knowledge of the Sun and its workings is limited even though it's the most important thing in the Universe as far as we're concerned , the particles are electrons and protons.

A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a vast cloud of electrically charged particles from the sun's upper atmosphere or corona that's heated to enormous temperatures and launched with a huge burst of speed by the energy released in a solar flare.
www.livescience.com...

The Parker probe is about 4.3 million miles from the centre of the Sun , I think the reason Parker survived the blast is solely down to the engineering brilliance of the guys and gals at NASA , it is remarkable , they are the best in the World.

a reply to: gortex

Science today is of the extremes: extreme hot and extreme cold.

Parker has carbon-carbon shield that was developed from burnt toast! Really! They found that the carbon surrounding burnt toast actually insulated the inside so they set up a toaster (outside) to burn toast in a non-oxygenated manner. They ended up with a carbon brick full of holes that when stacked together withstood the direct blast of a blow torch. They then went about engineering carbon nanotubes to create the same structure which they termed carbon-carbon bricks (or insulation if you want). That was for the side facing the sun.

The other side has to be heated! And shielded from the extreme cold of space! How crazy is that? One side of the craft is facing temperatures and radiation that would kill technology and the other is freezing to the point of being non-functional. Somehow, they have a heating system that heats that side too.

Yeah, that is super wild engineering going on there!

But when it works you get to super cool events like the one in the OP!

Thanks for the thread!!

Here's to the remaining dives around the sun!

a reply to: gortex

That was awesome and rather beautiful looking to me.

a reply to: gortex
That I find fascinating, that we earthlings have space craft that can fly through the Sun's CME.

Time for cube hunting
Thanks for pointing this one out

originally posted by: 0bserver1
a reply to: gortex
That I find fascinating, that we earthlings have space craft that can fly through the Sun's CME.

Time for cube hunting
Thanks for pointing this one out

Or program AI to hack into cube's hive mind and have them steer into the sun.

a reply to: quintessentone

Would be Fun if NASA just said that