A NASA spacecraft is approaching the sun, repeating its record-setting distance of 3.8 million miles from the solar surface. The Parker Solar Probe reached “perihelion,” the nearest point to the sun in its orbital path, on Saturday, Dec. 13. This milestone signifies the spacecraft’s most recent flyby to examine the corona, the sun’s outer atmosphere.

Parker has also matched its speed record of 430,000 mph — sufficient to cover the distance from New York to Tokyo in under a minute, according to the space agency. During this flyby, the probe is set to collect information on solar wind, flares, and coronal mass ejections — the enigmatic solar phenomena that influence space weather. The spacecraft’s four scientific instruments will assess solar particles and magnetic fields.

This encounter follows the notable flyby last December, which allowed Parker to become the closest human-made object to the sun. The results and images from that encounter were published in two papers in this week’s Astrophysical Journal Letters.

“In time, with each additional pass by the sun, Parker Solar Probe will aid us in piecing together a comprehensive view of the sun’s magnetic fields and their potential effects on us,” stated Nour Rawafi, Parker’s project scientist, in a statement. “As the sun moves from solar maximum toward minimum, the scenes we will observe may become even more striking.”

Parker’s mission, initiated in 2018, aims to enhance our understanding of the sun and the corona. It “touched” the sun for the first time in 2021, venturing into a region with a temperature of 2 million degrees Fahrenheit.

At present, space weather remains poorly understood, and predicting solar material bursts that might interfere with power grids, telecommunications, and GPS systems is still difficult. Thankfully, the atmosphere and magnetic field protect earthlings from the most severe health effects of radiation during solar storms.

However, these events can still impact technology that people rely on. For instance, a solar flare in March 1989 resulted in a 12-hour power outage for all of Quebec, Canada. It also disrupted radio communications for Radio Free Europe.

Coronal mass ejections and flares both entail massive solar explosions and can occur simultaneously. When observed through telescopes, flares appear as bright light, while ejections resemble gas fans shooting into space. The distinction between the two events can be likened to Civil War-era artillery, as NASA explains:

“The flare is akin to the muzzle flash, visible in the vicinity. The (coronal mass ejection) is similar to the cannonball, propelled in a specific, forward direction … affecting only a targeted area.”

The hot plasma from the ejection typically takes around three days to reach Earth, moving at speeds exceeding 1 million mph. A geomagnetic storm may occur when charged particles from that plasma engage with Earth’s magnetic field.

Parker’s observations indicated that some magnetic material launched during a coronal mass ejection last December actually returned to the sun rather than escaping. This recycling appears to reshape the magnetic environment and even affect the trajectory of subsequent solar eruptions.

The data also assisted scientists in creating the first comprehensive maps of the corona’s boundary, known as the Alfvén surface, where solar material is released and transforms into solar wind. The spacecraft’s measurements reveal that this area expands and becomes more irregular as the sun’s activity intensifies.

“The knowledge gained from these images is crucial for comprehending and predicting how space weather propagates through the solar system, particularly for mission planning that ensures the safety of our Artemis astronauts venturing beyond the protective shield of our atmosphere,” remarked Joe Westlake, director of NASA’s heliophysics division, in a statement.

NASA is currently evaluating the next steps for the spacecraft in 2026 and beyond.