Computer America Show

January 28, 2022 Show NotesStory 1: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is the first spacecraft to visit the sun’s atmosphereSource: ScienceNews.org Story by Lisa GrossmanLink: https://bit.ly/3E4iWF1NASA held a press briefing in December highlighting data from its Parker Solar Probe that earlier this year became the first craft to enter the sun’s atmosphere.The Parker Solar Probe left interplanetary space and entered the sun’s atmosphere this past April where it took measurements of exactly where this atmospheric boundary lies, which is called the Alfvén critical surface.And this entry point to the sun’s atmosphere is about 8 million miles above the sun’s surface.Exploring this boundary was one of the Parker Solar Probe’s main goals when it launched in 2018.This outer edge of the sun’s atmosphere is important because it marks where packets of plasma can separate from the sun and become part of the solar wind, which is the speedy stream of charged particles that constantly emanates from the sun.Since the solar wind can