Probe Gets Close To The Sun — Finds Rogue Plasma Waves And Flipping Magnetic Fields
The initial results from an ambitious mission to get a spacecraft close to the Sun are shedding new light on some old mysteries about our closest star.
by Nell Greenfieldboyce
Dec 04, 2019
3 minutes
An unprecedented mission to venture close to the sun has revealed a strange region of space filled with rapidly flipping magnetic fields and rogue plasma waves.
These surprises are among just some of the first observations by NASA's Parker Solar Probe, which blasted off last year to get up-close-and-personal with our nearest star.
Scientists say the findings, described in a series of reports in the journal Nature, could help explain long-standing mysteries â like why the sun's extended atmosphere is hotter than its surface.
They also could help scientists better understand and predict
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