Parker Solar Probe Completes first solar encounter on Nov 11th 2018

Parker Solar Probe Starts First Solar Encounter

For several days around the Nov. 5 perihelion, Parker Solar Probe will be completely out of contact with Earth because of interference from the Sun’s overwhelming radio emissions.

During the solar encounter phase, Parker Solar Probe’s four instrument suites measure the properties of material directly within the Sun’s outer atmosphere. These observations, gathered closer to the Sun than ever before, will help scientists begin to answer outstanding questions about the Sun’s fundamental physics — including how particles and solar material are accelerated out into space at such high speeds and why the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona, is so much hotter than the surface below.