Solar Probe Touches the Sun
Launched in 2018, NASA\u2019s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft, with instruments developed and built by UC Berkeley, has now traveled closer to the sun than any other mission in history, actually penetrating the sun\u2019s atmosphere, to investigate highly charged magnetic field. Now, that data has allowed solar physicists to map the source of a major component of the solar wind that continually peppers Earth\u2019s atmosphere, while revealing strange magnetic field reversals that could be accelerating these particles toward our planet. These accelerated particles interact with Earth\u2019s magnetic field, generating the colorful northern and southern lights but also potentially damaging the electrical grid and telecommunications networks on the surface, threatening orbiting satellites and perhaps endangering astronauts in space. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Science] [Show ID: 36760]