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Headline: NASA Releases First Photo Ever Taken From Inside The Sun’s Corona

Caption: IN PHOTO: This image from Parker Solar Probe's WISPR (Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe) instrument shows a coronal streamer, seen over the east limb of the Sun on Nov. 8, 2018, at 1:12 a.m. NASA has released the first ever photo shot from inside the Sun’s corona. The photo above was captured on November 8th, 2018, while Parker was about 16.9 million miles from the Sun’s surface. Just for reference, the Sun’s diameter is 860,000 miles, and the distance from Earth to the Sun is about 91 million miles. “Parker Solar Probe is providing us with the measurements essential to understanding solar phenomena that have been puzzling us for decades,” says Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. In the middle of the frame are at least two ejections of solar material, known as coronal streamers, which are usually found in regions on increased solar activity. And that bright spot of light seen right under a streamer? That’s Mercury, the first planet from the Sun. Throughout its mission, Parker Solar Probe will focus on answering critical questions that will allow scientists to learn more about the magnetic forces of solar winds. Learning more about these winds are critical, as the magnetic forces can create geomagnetic storms that endanger the lives of astronauts. Parker will also attempt to learn how the Sun is able to heat its corona to temperatures up to 300 times higher than surface level, how solar winds are able to accelerate so quickly, and why the Sun’s most energetic particles move slower than the speed of light away from the star. “The science data from the first solar encounter is just making its way into the hands of the mission’s scientists,” NASA writes. “It’s a moment many in the field have been anticipating for years, thinking about what they’ll do with such never-before-seen data, which has the potential to shed new light on the physics of our star, the Sun. As the mission continues, the spacecraft will move even closer to the Sun, hurtling at speeds of 430,000 mph until it arrives just 4.3 million miles from the center of the Sun.

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