Parker Science Result animations
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- Visualizations by:
- Adriana Manrique Gutierrez
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- Scientific consulting by:
- Adam Szabo
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- Produced by:
- Genna Duberstein
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- Technical support:
- Aaron E. Lepsch
- View full credits
The dynamic solar wind
Observed near Earth, the solar wind is a relatively uniform flow of plasma, with occasional turbulent tumbles. But by that point it’s traveled over ninety million miles — and the signatures of the Sun's exact mechanisms for heating and accelerating the solar wind are wiped out. Closer to the solar wind's source, Parker Solar Probe saw a much different picture: a complicated, active system.
Credit: NASA Goddard/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez
Top-down view of Switchback Magnetic Fields
Parker indicated that the solar magnetic field embedded in the solar wind flips in the direction. These reversals — dubbed "switchbacks" — last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes as they flow over Parker Solar Probe. During a switchback, the magnetic field whips back on itself until it is pointed almost directly back at the Sun.
Credit: NASA Goddard/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez
Switchback Closeup
Parker indicated that the solar magnetic field embedded in the solar wind flips in the direction. These reversals — dubbed "switchbacks" — last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes as they flow over Parker Solar Probe. During a switchback, the magnetic field whips back on itself until it is pointed almost directly back at the Sun. The spacecraft's approximate location is represented as a dot icon.
Credit: NASA Goddard/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez
Solar Magnetic Field
Exactly where the solar wind transitions from a rotational flow to a perfectly radial flow has implications for how the Sun sheds energy. Parker located a transition region in the solar wind's flow. Finding that point may help us better understand the lifecycle of other stars or the formation of protoplanetary disks, the dense disks of gas and dust around young stars that eventually coalesce into planets. The spacecraft's approximate location is represented as a dot icon.
Credit: NASA Goddard/CIL/Jonathan North
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
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Animators
- Adriana Manrique Gutierrez (KBR Wyle Services, LLC) [Lead]
- Jonathan North (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Scientist
- Adam Szabo (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
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Art director
- Michael Lentz (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Producer
- Genna Duberstein (ADNET) [Lead]
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Technical support
- Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems, Inc.) [Lead]