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The Parker Solar Probe took a stunning photo heading from Venus to the Sun.
Due to the name of the Parker solar probe launched in 2018, it will study the sun. Its journey lasts seven years, and it finally penetrates the Sun’s atmosphere and approaches its surface. No spacecraft had been able to do this before.
Venus plays a key role in the success of the solar probe, as Parker takes advantage of the planet’s gravitational field to put it on the right track with so-called roll maneuvers. Because of this, it flies past Venus several times, giving it the opportunity to take beautiful photos of the celestial body.
In the photo just published, but still taken on July 11, 2020, we can see the night side of the planet from a distance of more than 12,000 kilometers. The recording was made with the WISPR (Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe) instrument of the spacecraft. WISPR is designed to capture the sun’s corona, the star’s outer atmosphere, in the visible range, as well as to observe the solar wind or charged particles emanating from the Sun.
The WISPR image is also unique in that it allows us to see through the thick cloud cover of Venus and see the surface of the planet from hell.
There is a dim light around the planet, called “night glow”, or caused by charged particles.
A well-removable black formation can also be seen in the middle of the image. This is none other than Aphrodite Terra, a plateau near the equator of Venus, one of the two continents of the planet. It is about the size of Africa. It is dark because the temperature in the area is much lower than in the surrounding regions.
If all goes well, Parker Sun Probe can help answer two key questions at the end of the mission: One is how the solar wind accelerates, and the other is why the Sun’s outer atmosphere is hotter than the sun’s surface (the The former is 1.7 million degrees Celsius, the latter, on the other hand, is only 5,500 degrees). The mysteries can only be solved by a more careful and thorough examination of the Sun.
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