Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2019 December 9 IFRAME: [2]https://www.youtube.com/embed/7w8szZ4TxCk?rel=0 Looking Sideways from the Parker Solar Probe Video Credit: [3]NASA, [4]JHUAPL, [5]Naval Research Lab, [6]Parker Solar Probe Explanation: Everybody sees the Sun. Nobody's been there. Starting in 2018 though, NASA [7]launch[8]ed the robotic [9]Parker Solar Probe (PSP) to [10]investigate regions near to the Sun for the first time. The [11]PSP's looping [12]orbit brings it yet closer to the Sun [13]each time around -- every few months. The [14]featured time-lapse video shows the view looking sideways from [15]behind PSP's Sun shield during its first approach to the Sun a year ago -- to about half the orbit of [16]Mercury. The [17]PSP's Wide Field Imager for Solar Probe ([18]WISPR) cameras took the images over nine days, but they are digitally compressed here into about 14 seconds. The waving [19]solar corona is visible on the far left, with stars, planets, and even the central band of our [20]Milky Way Galaxy streaming by in the background as the PSP orbits the Sun. [21]PSP has found the solar neighborhood to be [22]surprisingly complex and to include [23]switchbacks -- times when the [24]Sun's magnetic field briefly reverses itself. The Sun is not only Earth's dominant [25]energy source, its variable [26]solar wind compresses Earth's atmosphere, triggers auroras, affects power grids, and can even [27]damage orbiting communication satellites. Tomorrow's picture: satellite swarm __________________________________________________________________ [28]< | [29]Archive | [30]Submissions | [31]Index | [32]Search | [33]Calendar | [34]RSS | [35]Education | [36]About APOD | [37]Discuss | [38]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [39]Robert Nemiroff ([40]MTU) & [41]Jerry Bonnell ([42]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [43]Specific rights apply. [44]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC & [48]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://www.youtube.com/embed/7w8szZ4TxCk?rel=0 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.jhuapl.edu/ 5. https://www.nrl.navy.mil/ 6. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180815.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180816.html 9. http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/ 10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VO5GcfgCz8 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe 12. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4653 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe#Timeline 14. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13484 15. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03665-3 16. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mercury/overview/ 17. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe-humanity-s-first-visit-to-a-star 18. https://www.nrl.navy.mil/ssd/branches/7680/WISPR 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190130.html 20. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html 21. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasas-parker-solar-probe-sheds-new-light-on-the-sun 22. https://i0.wp.com/puppytoob.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Messy_Dog_11.jpg 23. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13484 24. https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/main/item/37 25. https://www.energy.gov/science-innovation/energy-sources 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000318.html 27. https://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/rhessi3/mission/science/the-impact-of-flares/index.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191208.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 32. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 37. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=191209 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap191210.html 39. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 40. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 41. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 42. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 43. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 44. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 45. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 48. http://www.mtu.edu/