Have a theological question?

During its record-breaking close approach to the Sun late last year, NASA's Parker Solar Probe captured unprecedented images from within the Sun's atmosphere. Taken closer to the Sun than ever before, these newly released images are helping scientists understand the Sun's influence throughout the solar system, including effects that reach Earth.

"Parker Solar Probe has once again transported us into the dynamic atmosphere of our closest star," said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "We are witnessing where space weather threats to Earth begin, with our eyes, not just with models."

The probe began its closest approach on Dec. 24, 2024, passing just 3.8 million miles from the Sun's surface. As it moved through the corona, its Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) instrument captured the corona and solar wind, the constant stream of charged particles that helps generate auroras, strip planetary atmospheres, and disrupt power grids and communications on Earth.

The images reveal the helio-spheric current sheet, where the Sun's magnetic field flips direction, and show for the first time in high resolution, multiple coronal mass ejections (CMEs) colliding and merging. "We're seeing the CMEs basically piling up on top of one another," said WISPR instrument scientist Angelos Vourlidas of Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Such collisions can alter a CME's path and intensify its effects, making space weather harder to predict.

Tracing the Solar Wind's Origins

The solar wind was first theorized by helio-physicist Eugene Parker in 1958, for whom the spacecraft is named. Earlier missions studied it from a distance, but Parker Solar Probe is now filling in the gaps up close. Within 14.7 million miles of the Sun, it detected "switchbacks"; zig-zagging kinks in the magnetic field, occurring more frequently than expected.

After entering the corona in 2021, the probe found its boundary to be uneven and complex. Later observations traced switchbacks to magnetic funnels on the Sun's surface, and in 2024 scientists linked them to the fast solar wind, resolving part of a decades-old mystery.

The slower solar wind, moving at about 220 miles per second, has proven harder to explain. "The big unknown has been how the solar wind is generated, and how it manages to escape the Sun's immense gravitational pull," said project scientist Nour Rawafi.

Two Types of Slow Solar Wind

The slow solar wind is denser and more variable than the fast wind, and its interaction with the fast wind can trigger storm conditions at Earth. Distant observations had hinted at two varieties, distinguished by their magnetic behaviour: Alfvénic wind, which shows small switchbacks, and non-Alfvénic wind, which doesn't.

Parker Solar Probe has now confirmed both types exist and is helping pinpoint their sources, non-Alfvénic wind possibly from helmet streamers, and Alfvénic wind from coronal holes.

The probe will gather more data during future close passes, the next scheduled for Sept. 15, 2025. "We don't have a final consensus yet," said mission scientist Adam Szabo, "but we have a whole lot of new intriguing data."

View the images here:

https://youtu.be/k1dTwEyuD44

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Joy Ng

Reference:

Johnson-Groh, M. (2026, 10 July). NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Snaps Closest-Ever Images to Sun. NASA.

About Coram Deo

Coram Deo — before the face of God. This blog reflects on Scripture, world events, science, music, psychology, and the human mind — always through the lens of Christian faith. All of life is lived before the face of God.