You’re looking at the closest-ever images of the Sun. Taken by our Parker Solar Probe during a close flyby, they show the solar wind racing out from the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona. Images and data from this mission are helping scientists better understand the Sun’s influence across the solar system, including events that can affect Earth. https://go.nasa.gov/4kA9vSO | NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The Solar Probe Cup is the measuring instrument aboard the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft. To collect data as the probe approaches the sun, the cup must withstand sunlight 400-500 times brighter than on Earth and temperatures of up to 1,600 degrees Celsius (2,900 degrees Fahrenheit). To test the cup, NASA needed to find somewhere on Earth with conditions that matched the extreme sunlight the probe would face in space. #MissionToTheSun is now streaming on Disney . | National Geographic Science

874K views · 2.4K reactions | For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Sun’s upper atmosphere – the corona – and sampled particles and magnetic fields there. ☀️ This movie shows data from the WISPR instrument on Parker Solar Probe. Credit: NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Laboratory | Science Channel | Facebook