NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Captures Solar Wind Making a U-Turn Toward the Sun

New Delhi: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has captured never-seen-before details of solar wind material reversing course and heading back toward the Sun, offering scientists a remarkable view of the dynamic processes in our star’s atmosphere.

During its record-breaking close approach on December 24, 2024, the spacecraft - which ventured just 3.8 million miles from the Sun’s surface - observed clouds of superheated particles erupting outward only to curl back in what researchers are calling a “U-turn”.

This looping behavior occurs when intense magnetic field lines in the Sun’s corona snap and realign, creating forces strong enough to pull some of the solar material back toward the star. While scientists have seen hints of this phenomenon before, Parker’s proximity allowed for the highest-resolution view yet of the process.

Nour Rawafi, the probe’s project scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, said the images provide an eye-opening look at how the Sun recycles both magnetic energy and matter within its outer atmosphere.

Understanding these “inflows” of material - alongside the outward flowing solar wind - is critical because they play a role in shaping space weather, which can affect satellites, astronaut safety, and communications systems on Earth.

These findings build on Parker Solar Probe’s broader mission to investigate the forces that heat the Sun’s corona and launch its fierce solar wind, giving scientists new data to refine models of our star’s behavior.

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