NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will make its closest flyby of the sun ever on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2024. (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben)
A NASA spacecraft will offer astronomers an impressive early Christmas present with the closest ever flyby of the sun on Dec. 24, however if you’re questioning precisely when the enthusiastic solar encounter will take place, do not fret. We’ve got you covered.
The NASA spacecraft, called the Parker Solar Probe, is on course for what will be a record-setting close flyby of the sun on Christmas Eve, when it will fly through the star’s external environment at 6:53 a.m. EST (1153 GMT) and pass within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the star’s surface area The flyby is the last trial for the Parker Solar Probe, which has actually made a series of ever-closer visit the star (and 7 flybys of Venus) on its objective to comprehend the sun like never ever previously.
“No human-made item has actually ever passed this near to a star, so Parker will really be returning information from uncharted area,” stated Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe objective operations supervisor at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) in Maryland, in a declaration. “We’re delighted to hear back from the spacecraft when it swings back around the sun.”
What time will NASA’s Parker Solar Probe fly through the sun?
As discussed above, the Parker Solar Probe’s closest sun flyby will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 24, at 6:53 a.m. EST (1153 GMT). At that specific time, the spacecraft will be at its closest point it will ever be to the sun: 3.8 million miles.
The Christmas Eve flyby will mark Parker’s 22nd close encounter with the sun because its launch in 2018 (the very first time it “touched the sun” remained in 2021). The spacecraft will be flying at about 430,000 miles per hour (692,000 kph), an astonishing speed which it reached by accelerating up through gravity helps from its 7 Venus flybys, most just recently in November.
Throughout the Dec. 24 sun flyby, the Parker Solar Probe will fly through the sun’s corona, its super-hot external environment, to study precisely why the area is so hot and other solar phenomena. The spacecraft has actually currently set a brand-new record as the closest human-built challenge fly so near to the sun, and is flying 7 times closer to the star than any other spacecraft.
Can I enjoy the Parker Solar Probe sun flyby online?
On its closest technique to the sun near completion of the objective, the Parker Solar Probe will end up being the fastest spacecraft ever. (Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)
No, you will not have the ability to view the Parker Solar Probe’s sun flyby live online.
Breaking area news, the current updates on rocket launches, skywatching occasions and more!
Unlike NASA rocket launches and Mars landings, the sun flyby will not be webcast or livestreamed in genuine time.
