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NASA Releases Closest-Ever Images of the Sun From Parker Solar Probe

High-resolution footage of CME collisions along with magnetic switchbacks is set to refine space weather models before Parker Solar Probe’s September flyby

This is the closest ever image of the Sun. You can clearly see the solar wind
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NASA Captures Closest-Ever Footage of the Sun | Image: NASA Goddard
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Overview

  • NASA unveiled new WISPR images and a timelapse from its December 2024 flyby that show the Sun’s corona from just 3.8 million miles away
  • The released imagery captures, for the first time in such detail, multiple coronal mass ejections piling up and merging in the Sun’s outer atmosphere
  • Data also reveal clustered magnetic switchbacks—zigzagging magnetic fields—occurring more frequently than expected within 14.7 million miles of the Sun
  • Researchers are integrating these observations into improved forecasts to better predict solar wind impacts on satellites, power grids and astronaut safety
  • The probe continues its mission toward a next scheduled close approach on September 15, 2025, to collect further data on solar wind and coronal phenomena