Skimming the Sun, probe sheds light on space weather threats
Eruptions of plasma piling atop one another, solar wind streaming out in exquisite detail -- the closest-ever images of our Sun are a gold mine for scientists.
Captured by the Parker Solar Probe during its closest approach to our star starting on December 24, 2024, the images were recently released by NASA and are expected to deepen our understanding of space weather and help guard against solar threats to Earth.
- A historic achievement –
"We have been waiting for this moment since the late Fifties," Nour Rawafi, project scientist for the mission at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, told AFP.
Previous spacecraft have studied the Sun, but from much farther away.
Parker was launched in 2018 and is named after the late physicist Eugene Parker, who in 1958 theorized the existence of the solar wind -- a constant stream of electrically charged particles that fan out through the solar system.
The probe recently entered its final orbit where its closest approach takes it to just 3.8 million miles from the Sun's surface -- a milestone first achieved on Christmas Eve 2024 and repeated twice since on an 88-day cycle.
To put the proximity in perspective: if the distance between Earth and the Sun measured one foot, Parker would be hovering just half an inch away.
Its heat shield was engineered to withstand up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,370 degrees Celsius) -- but to the team's delight, it has only experienced around 2,000F (1090C) so far, revealing the limits of theoretical modeling.
Remarkably, the probe's instruments, just a yard (meter) behind the shield, remain at little more than room temperature.
- Staring at the Sun –
The spacecraft carries a single imager, the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR), which captured data as Parker plunged through the Sun's corona, or outer atmosphere.
Stitched into a seconds-long video, the new images reveal coronal mass ejections (CMEs) -- massive bursts of charged particles that drive space weather -- in high resolution for the first time.
"We had multiple CMEs piling up on top of each other, which is what makes them so special," Rawafi said. "It's really amazing to see that dynamic happening there."
Such eruptions triggered the widespread auroras seen across much of the world last May, as the Sun reached the peak of its 11-year cycle.
Another striking feature is how the solar wind, flowing from the left of the image, traces a structure called the heliospheric current sheet: an invisible boundary where the Sun's magnetic field flips from north to south.
It extends through the solar system in the shape of a twirling skirt and is critical to study, as it governs how solar eruptions propagate and how strongly they can affect Earth.
- Why it matters –
Space weather can have serious consequences, such as overwhelming power grids, disrupting communications, and threatening satellites.
As thousands more satellites enter orbit in the coming years, tracking them and avoiding collisions will become increasingly difficult -- especially during solar disturbances, which can cause spacecraft to drift slightly from their intended orbits.
Rawafi is particularly excited about what lies ahead, as the Sun heads toward the minimum of its cycle, expected in five to six years.
Historically, some of the most extreme space weather events have occurred during this declining phase -- including the infamous Halloween Solar Storms of 2003, which forced astronauts aboard the International Space Station to shelter in a more shielded area.
"Capturing some of these big, huge eruptions...would be a dream," he said.
Parker still has far more fuel than engineers initially expected and could continue operating for decades -- until its solar panels degrade to the point where they can no longer generate enough power to keep the spacecraft properly oriented.
When its mission does finally end, the probe will slowly disintegrate -- becoming, in Rawafi's words, "part of the solar wind itself."
ia/jgc
Originally published as Skimming the Sun, probe sheds light on space weather threats
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15 hours ago
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The asteroid that will spare Earth might hit the moon instead. What happens if it does?
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here The asteroid known as 2024 YR4 is out of sight yet still very much on scientists' minds. The building-sized object, which initially appeared to be on a potential collision course with Earth, is currently zooming beyond the reach of telescopes on its orbit around the sun. But as scientists wait for it to reappear, its revised trajectory is now drawing attention to another possible target: the moon. An artist's impression depicts an asteroid orbiting the sun. (ESA via CNN Newsource) Discovered at the end of 2024, the space rock looked at first as if it might hit our planet by December 22, 2032. The chance of that impact changed with every new observation, peaking at 3.1 per cent in February — odds that made it the riskiest asteroid ever observed. Ground- and space-based telescope observations were crucial in helping astronomers narrow in on 2024 YR4's size and orbit. With more precise measurements, researchers were ultimately able to rule out an Earth impact. The latest observations of the asteroid in early June, before YR4 disappeared from view, have improved astronomers' knowledge of where it will be in seven years by almost 20 per cent, according to NASA. That data shows that even with Earth avoiding direct impact, YR4 could still pose a threat in late 2032 by slamming into the moon. The impact would be a once-in-a-lifetime event for humanity to witness — but it could also send fine-grained lunar material hurtling toward our planet. A vapor cloud trail left by the Chelyabinsk asteroid. (M. Ahmetvaleev/ESA via CNN Newsource) While Earth wouldn't face any significant physical danger should the asteroid strike the moon, there is a chance that any astronauts or infrastructure on the lunar surface at that time could be at risk — as could satellites orbiting our planet that we depend on to keep vital aspects of life, including navigation and communications, running smoothly. Any missions in low-Earth orbit could also be in the pathway of the debris, though the International Space Station is scheduled to be deorbited before any potential impact. Initially, YR4 was seen as a case study in why scientists do the crucial work of planetary defence, discovering and tracking asteroids to determine which ones have a chance of colliding with Earth. Now, astronomers say this one asteroid could redefine the range of risks the field addresses, expanding the purview of the work to include monitoring asteroids that might be headed for the moon as well. The moon is covered in craters like Daedalus, as seen by the Apollo 11 crew on the moon's far side. (CNN) "We're starting to realise that maybe we need to extend that shield a little bit further," said Dr. Paul Wiegert, a professor of astronomy and physics at the Western University in London, Ontario. "We now have things worth protecting that are a bit further away from Earth, so our vision is hopefully expanding a little bit to encompass that." In the meantime, researchers are assessing just how much chaos a potential YR4 lunar impact could create — and whether anything can be done to mitigate it. The threatening hunk of rock appears as just a speck of light through even the strongest astronomical tools. In reality, YR4 is likely about 60m in diameter, according to observations in March by the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space-based observatory in operation. "Size equals energy," said Julien de Wit, associate professor of planetary sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who observed YR4 with Webb. "Knowing YR4's size helped us understand how big of an explosion it could be." A graphic shows the range of possible locations of the asteroid in yellow on December 22, 203 (CNN) Astronomers believe they have found most of the near-Earth asteroids the field would classify as "planet killers" — space rocks that are 1 kilometre across or larger and could be civilisation-ending, said Dr. Andy Rivkin, planetary astronomer from the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. The planet killer that slammed into Earth 66 million years ago and led to the extinction of dinosaurs was estimated to be roughly 10 kilometres in diameter. Smaller asteroids such as YR4, which was colloquially dubbed a "city killer" after its discovery, could cause regional devastation if they collide with our planet. About 40 per cent of near-Earth space rocks larger than 140m but smaller than a kilometre — capable of more widespread destruction — have been identified, according to NASA. An illustration shows NEO Surveyor, NASA's next-generation near-Earth object hunter. (CNN) But astronomers have never really had a chance to watch a collision of that size occur on the moon in real time, Wiegert said. The latest glimpses of YR4 on June 3 before it passed out of view revealed a 4.3 per cent chance of a YR4 lunar impact — small but decent enough odds for scientists to consider how such a scenario might play out. Initial calculations suggest the impact has the largest chance of occurring on the near side of the moon — the side we can see from Earth. "YR4 is so faint and small we were able to measure its position with JWST longer than we were able to do it from the ground," said Rivkin, who has been leading the Webb study of YR4. "And that lets us calculate a much more precise orbit for it, so we now have a much better idea of where it will be and won't be." ESA's NEOMIR mission could spot previously unknown asteroids (Pierre Carril/ESA via CNN Newsource) The collision could create a bright flash that would be visible with the naked eye for several seconds, according to Wiegert, lead author of a recent paper submitted to the American Astronomical Society journals analysing the potential lunar impact. The collision could create an impact crater on the moon estimated at 1 kilometre wide (0.6 miles wide), Wiegert said — about the size of Meteor Crater in Arizona, Rivkin added. It would be the largest impact on the moon in 5000 years and could release up to 100 million kilograms of lunar rocks and dust, according to the modelling in Wiegert's study. Even pieces of debris that are just tens of centimetres in size could present a hazard for any astronauts who may be present on the moon, or any structures they have built for research and habitation, Wiegert said. The moon has no atmosphere, so the debris from the event could be widespread on the lunar surface, he added. On average, the moon is 384,400 kilometres away from Earth, according to NASA. The Webb telescope captured images of YR4 in March using its NIRCam and MIRI instruments. (A Rivkin/Webb/STScI/CSA/NASA/ESA via CNN Newsource) Particles the size of large sand grains, ranging from 0.1 to 10 millimetres in size, of lunar material could reach Earth between a few days and a few months after the asteroid strike because they'll be travelling incredibly fast, creating an intense, eye-catching meteor shower, Wiegert said. "There's absolutely no danger to anyone on the surface," Wiegert said. "We're not expecting large boulders or anything larger than maybe a sugar cube, and our atmosphere will protect us very nicely from that. But they're travelling faster than a speeding bullet, so if they were to hit a satellite, that could cause some damage." Not all lunar debris that reaches the Earth is so small, and it depends on the angle and type of impact to the moon, according to Washington University in St. Louis. Space rocks slamming into the lunar surface over millions of years have resulted in various sizes of lunar meteorites found on Earth. Hundreds to thousands of impacts from millimeter-size debris could affect Earth's satellite fleet, meaning satellites could experience up to 10 years' equivalent of meteor debris exposure in a few days, Wiegert said. Humankind depends on vital space infrastructure, said Dan Oltrogge, chief scientist at COMSPOC, a space situational awareness software company that develops solutions for handling hazards such as space debris. "Space touches almost every aspect of our lives today, ranging from commerce, communications, travel, industry, education, and social media, so a loss of access to and effective use of space presents a serious risk to humanity," Oltrogge said. Hundreds to thousands of impacts from millimetre-size debris could affect Earth's satellite fleet (AP) The event is unlikely to trigger a Kessler Syndrome scenario in which debris from broken satellites would collide with others to create a domino effect or fall to Earth. Instead, it might be more akin to when a piece of gravel strikes a car windshield at high speed, meaning solar panels or other delicate satellite parts might be damaged, but the satellite will remain in one piece, Wiegert said. While a temporary loss of communication and navigation from satellites would create widespread difficulties on Earth, Wiegert said he believes the potential impact is something for satellite operators, rather than the public, to worry about. Scientists and astronomers around the world are thinking about the possible scenarios since they could not rule out a lunar impact before YR4 disappeared from view, Wiegert said. "We realise that an impact to the moon could be consequential, so what would we do?" de Wit said. A potential planetary defence plan might be clearer if the asteroid were headed straight for Earth. A potential planetary defence plan might be clearer if the asteroid were headed straight for Earth. (AP) Rivkin helped test one approach in September 2022 as the principal investigator of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, which intentionally slammed a spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022. Dimorphos is a moonlet asteroid that orbits a larger parent asteroid known as Didymos. Neither poses a threat to Earth, but the double-asteroid system was a perfect target to test deflection technology because Dimorphos' size is comparable to asteroids that could harm our planet in the event of an impact. The DART mission crashed a spacecraft into the asteroid at six kilometres per second to find out whether such a kinetic impact would be enough to change the motion of a celestial object in space. It worked. Since the day of the collision, data from ground-based telescopes has revealed that the DART spacecraft did alter Dimorphos' orbital period — or how long it takes to make a single revolution around Didymos — by about 32 or 33 minutes. Though defence plans for a potential moon impact still aren't clear, YR4's journey underscores the importance of tracking objects that are often impossible to see. (Getty) And scientists have continued to observe additional changes to the pair, including how the direct hit likely deformed Dimorphos due to the asteroid's composition. Similarly, if YR4 strikes the moon and doesn't result in damaging effects for satellites, it could create a tremendous opportunity for researchers to learn how the lunar surface responds to impacts, Wiegert said. But whether it would make sense to send a DART-like mission to knock YR4 off a collision course with the moon remains to be seen. It will depend on future risk assessments by planetary defence groups when the asteroid comes back into view around 2028, de Wit said. Though defence plans for a potential moon impact still aren't clear, YR4's journey underscores the importance — and the challenges — of tracking objects that are often impossible to see. YR4 was detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, or ATLAS telescope, in Río Hurtado, Chile, two days after the asteroid had already made its closest pass by Earth, hidden by the bright glare of the sun as it approached our planet. The same thing occurred when an asteroid measuring roughly 20m across hit the atmosphere and exploded above Chelyabinsk, Russia, on February 15, 2013, damaging thousands of buildings, according to the European Space Agency. While no one died, about 1500 people were injured when the windows in homes and businesses blew out due to the shock wave. Trying to observe asteroids is challenging for many reasons, Rivkin said. Asteroids are incredibly faint and hard to see because rather than emitting their own light, they only reflect sunlight. And because of their relatively tiny size, interpreting observations is not a clear-cut process like looking through a telescope at a planet such as Mars or Jupiter. "For asteroids, we only see them as a point of light, and so by measuring how bright they are and measuring their temperature, basically we can get a size based on how big do they have to be in order to be this bright," Rivkin said. For decades, astronomers have had to search for faint asteroids by night, which means missing any that may be on a path coming from the direction of the sun — creating the world's biggest blind spot for ground-based telescopes that can't block out our star's luminosity. NASA and other space agencies are constantly on the lookout for potentially hazardous asteroids. (Don Pettit/NASA via CNN Newsource) But upcoming telescopes — including NASA's NEO Surveyor, expected to launch by the end of 2027 and the European Space Agency's Near-Earth Object Mission in the InfraRed, or NEOMIR satellite, set for liftoff in the early 2030s — could shrink that blind spot, helping researchers detect asteroids much closer to the sun. "NEOMIR would have detected asteroid 2024 YR4 about a month earlier than ground-based telescopes did," said Richard Moissl, head of ESA's Planetary Defence Office, in a statement. "This would have given astronomers more time to study the asteroid's trajectory and allowed them to much sooner rule out any chance of Earth impact in 2032." NASA and other space agencies are constantly on the lookout for potentially hazardous asteroids, defined as such based on their distance from Earth and ability to cause significant damage should an impact occur. Asteroids that can't get any closer to our planet than one-twentieth of Earth's distance from the sun are not considered to be potentially hazardous asteroids, according to NASA. This illustration made available by Johns Hopkins APL and NASA depicts NASA's DART probe, upper right, on course to impact the asteroid Dimorphos, left, which orbits Didymos. DART is expected to zero in on the asteroid Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, intent on slamming it head-on at 14,000 mph. The impact should be just enough to nudge the asteroid into a slightly tighter orbit around its companion space rock. (Steve Gribben/Johns Hopkins APL/NASA via AP) (AP) When the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located in the Andes in Chile, released its first stunning images of the cosmos in June, researchers revealed the discovery of more than 2,100 previously unknown asteroids after seven nights of observations. Of those newly detected space rocks, seven were near-Earth objects. A near-Earth object is an asteroid or comet on an orbit that brings it within 190 million kilometres of the sun, which means it has the potential to pass near Earth, according to NASA. None of the new ones detected by Rubin were determined to pose a threat to our planet. Rubin will act as a great asteroid hunter, de Wit said, while telescopes such as Webb could be a tracker that follow up on Rubin's discoveries. A proposal by Rivkin and de Wit to use Webb to observe YR4 in the spring of 2026 has just been approved. An illustration depicts the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft as it descended toward the rocky surface of asteroid Bennu. (NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona) Webb is the only telescope with a chance of glimpsing the asteroid before 2028. "This newly approved program will buy decision makers two extra years to prepare — though most likely to relax, as there is an 80 per cent chance of ruling out impact — while providing key experience-based lessons for handling future potential impactors to be discovered by Vera Rubin," de Wit said. And because of the twists and turns of YR4's tale thus far, asteroids that have potential to affect the moon could become objects of even more intense study in the future. "If this really is a thing that we only have to worry about every 5000 years or something, then maybe that's less pressing," Rivkin said. "But even just asking what would we do if we did see something that was going to hit the moon is at least something that we can now start thinking about." CONTACT US
Courier-Mail
2 days ago
- Courier-Mail
Tides could help predict when huge icebergs break loose: study
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Ocean tides can trigger city-sized icebergs to break off from Antarctic ice shelves, scientists said on Thursday, offering a potential way to predict these dramatic events in the future. It is not normally possible to forecast when icebergs break free, or calve, although the timing is important because these behemoths change the shape of ice sheets and affect global sea levels. Yet when a chunk of ice the size of Greater London suddenly broke off the Brunt Ice Shelf in 2023 and started drifting away, glaciologist Oliver Marsh was not surprised. Marsh told AFP he had predicted that a huge iceberg breaking off was "imminent within the next weeks to months". The British Antarctic Survey researcher had spent years studying the huge crack that would create the 550-square-kilometre (210-square-mile) iceberg named A81. As Marsh had anticipated, the calving occurred at the peak of spring tide, when there is the biggest difference between the ocean's high and low tide. New research led by Marsh, published in the journal Nature Communications on Thursday, used modelling to show that the calving was triggered by the tide, along with high winds and stress on the ice. After A81 broke off, Marsh visited the ice shelf to see how open water had replaced what had previously been "ice as far as you could see". "It was sad to see it go, in a way," he said. A81 is currently drifting up the eastern side of the Antarctica Peninsula towards the Weddell Sea. It remains to be seen whether it will come close to South Georgia island, which is an important breeding ground for penguins, seals and other animals. - 'Out of balance' - The world's biggest iceberg, A23a, ran aground not too far from South Georgia earlier this year but is not thought to pose a threat to wildlife. Now that A23a is exposed to the waves of the Southern Ocean, its "days are numbered", Marsh said. He emphasised that iceberg calving is a natural process which balances out the massive amount of snow that falls on Antarctica every year. However, "now we're out of balance", Marsh added. Antarctica loses ice in two ways -- icebergs calving and ice sheets melting. And ice sheets are melting at a rapidly increasing rate as oceans warm due to human-driven climate change, scientists have warned. "We don't know whether calving rates have gone up" because they happen relatively infrequently, Marsh said. A81 was the second of three mammoth icebergs that have broken free of the Brunt Ice Shelf since 2021. "We are expecting a very large calving event at some point from this area" in the future, Marsh said. But he could not give a timeframe. "Whilst we're saying we are a step closer to being able to predict these events... it is still difficult to predict." dl/gil Originally published as Tides could help predict when huge icebergs break loose: study
Herald Sun
3 days ago
- Herald Sun
Fantastic Four: Marvel's stunning First Steps puts A-list cast of Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby to good use
Don't miss out on the headlines from Movies. Followed categories will be added to My News. With the best-looking superhero movie ever made, a tired reboot and a challenging comedy, it's a mixed bag at the movies this week. THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (PG) Director: Matt Shakman (feature debut) Starring: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Julia Garner. ***1/2 Barely a stumble, and always looking the goods First, the very, very good news about The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It is the second superhero movie in a row to flat-out not suck. That is quite an achievement when we remember there has been three truly terrible Fantastic Four flicks over the past two decades. Let's move on to some very good news. First Steps could well be the best-looking superhero movie ever made. The production design is a triumph of inspired aesthetics, conjuring a retro-futuristic world that is believably unbelievable. The planet Earth that the F4 team are required to save seems to have hit the pause button in 1964. The fashion, the architecture, the furniture and the innocent optimism of the era are displayed both precisely and pleasurably. Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby and Ebon Moss-Bachrach at The Fantastic Four: First Steps premiere in Los Angeles. Picture: Getty Images Chilean-US actor Pedro Pascal leads a stellar cast. Picture: AFP And yet, the technology that underpins every aspect of life on this version of Earth is from the year 3064. Yes, that was a flying car whooshing by, complete with chrome tailfins and a vintage Chevy front grill. Now for some merely good news regarding First Steps. While it never quite matches the new Superman in terms of telling a compelling story or generating euphoric levels of excitement, it is still an entertaining and enjoyable screen experience from start to finish. The key here is that Marvel have ditched the usual entry-level requirements of prior knowledge and considerable patience for viewers (demands that have ruined much of the studio's recent output). You can safely show up to First Steps completely unaware of the F4 origin story, as a niftily succinct montage early in the movie will set you straight inside three minutes. The team sheet for the Fantastic Four is comprised of a quartet of ex-astronauts accidentally exposed to high levels of cosmic radiation during their final mission. The ordeal blessed them with a varied suite of superpowers. Though Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) is the brains of the F4 outfit, he is also famous for a body that can stretch and bend like a high-tensile rubber band. Vanessa Kirby. Picture: Getty Images Reed's wife Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) can turn invisible and emit giant force fields of energy at will. Her brother Johnny (Joseph Quinn) is adored by the general public in his guise as the flying fireball known as the Human Torch. Then there is their good friend Ben Grimm, aka The Thing. He is the strongman of the unit, a rock-encrusted cousin of the Hulk, whose favourite time on the clock is 'clobberin' time.' The F4's chief assignment in First Steps is to prevent Earth being swallowed whole by a gargantuan Thanos-on-steroids named Galactus. To be honest, the plot surrounding how our heroes will thwart Galactus and his heavy-metal henchwoman the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) is charged with a silliness that never quite earns our respect or awe. Thankfully, the warm and inviting chemistry shared by the A-list cast stops any possible descent into B-movie blandness for First Steps. And when all else fails, there is all that astonishingly attractive imagery to gawk at. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in cinemas now. Sarah Pidgeon, Madelyn Cline, centre, and Chase Sui Wonders, right, in I Know What You Did Last Summer. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER (MA15+) ** General release. We all know what Hollywood did late last century, because they keep recycling horror hits from yesterday like there is no tomorrow. For this tepid update of a so-so slasher flick from the '90s, the formula remains exactly the same as before. A quartet of semi-annoying, totally clueless young friends mistakenly assume they have successfully covered up their involvement in a coastal car accident a year prior. Now they're all getting threatening notes from an unknown entity inferring their shared secret will soon be a shared death sentence. Eventually, a mysterious rain-slickered psychopath will start checking off names on his personal to-die list in tired, predictable and curiously unscary fashion. A few casting cameos from the original might tweak a nostalgic pang or two, but there's no crime in waiting for this sluggish effort to show up on home streaming. Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in Friendship. FRIENDSHIP (M) ***1/2 General release. This decidedly unorthodox affair gets a welcome run in cinemas on the strength of its casting of former Saturday Night Live regular Tim Robinson in a leading role. Via his acclaimed Netflix series I Think You Should Leave, Robinson has proven himself to be one of the most daring figures remaining on a diminished American comedy scene. Some familiarity with Robinson's often-surreal brand of humour will come in useful here. Robinson plays Craig, a regular suburban dad who slowly, but surely loses his mind after misinterpreting a polite gesture of thanks from a new arrival in his neighbourhood, Austin (Ant-Man's Paul Rudd). With Craig mistakenly assuming he and Austin are best buds, he fails to notice his marriage, job and grasp of reality are slipping away rapidly. Though not without its share of laugh-out-loud moments, this is actually a poignant and disarming portrait of male loneliness in the modern age. Strong, striking and unique stuff, even if not for all tastes. Originally published as Pedro Pascal leads 'best-looking' A-list Fantastic Four reboot
