A probe which NASA launched five years ago has flown near enough to the sun’s surface to find out how to prevent the whole world’s internet being knocked out by a solar storm.
The Parker Solar Probe, has uncovered the source of solar wind, a stream of energized particles that flow from the corona, or the sun’s hot outer atmosphere. This flow reaches the Earth - and if solar storms break out they can also impact satellites and Earth’s electrical grids.
Scientists have warned of the dangers of powerful solar storms which some believe could strike within the next decade, Express US reported.
James Drake, distinguished professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, in a statement. “Winds carry lots of information from the sun to Earth, so understanding the mechanism behind the sun’s wind is important for practical reasons on Earth That’s going to affect our ability to understand how the sun releases energy and drives geomagnetic storms, which are a threat to our communication networks.”
One of the key motivations behind the mission was to determine what the wind looks like as it forms near the sun and how it escapes the star’s gravity.
Lead author of the study Professor Stuart Bale, who is affiliated with California University, explained the significance of the voyage. He said: “Winds carry lots of information from the sun to Earth. So understanding the mechanism behind the sun’s wind is important for practical reasons on Earth.
“That’s going to affect our ability to understand how the sun releases energy and drives geomagnetic storms - which are a threat to our communication networks.”
A strong storm, scientists have previously warned, could knock out communications satellites and power grids effectively shutting off the world’s internet something which could take months or even years to fix. The advanced instruments on the Parker Solar Probe were able to pick up crucial information that is lost when the solar wind leaves the sun’s corona in the form of charged particles eg. photons and electrons.
