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?Who is Eugene Parker
He is one of the great physicists whose contributions were so enormous as he was the theorist of the First Theory of the solar wind and NASA named its solar probe after him.
Here is where it all started
Here is where it all started
In 1942
Bengt Edlén
was a Swedish professor of physics and astronomer who specialized in spectroscopy. He was the first who identified the unknown coronal spectral lines in the Corona, which were used to calculate the temperature of the corona, indicating a temperature of 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit
Hannes Alfvén
combined the mathematics of fluid mechanics and electromagnetism to predict that plasmas could support wave-like variation in the magnetic field, a wave phenomenon that now bears his name, Alfvén waves. So Alfvén waves revealed a previously overlooked mechanism for heat and energy to be transferred from the Sun.
In 1943
According to Kepler’s hypothesis from 400 years before, Cuno Hoffmeister (and later Ludwig Biermann) proposes that the Sun emits a steady stream of charged particles that push the ions in the comet tails always away from the Sun.
In 1958
The First Theory of the Solar Wind
Eugene Parker connects the hot corona with the solar wind in a rigorous mathematical theory. According to the theory, heat pressure from the million-degree corona forces it to expand outward in all directions, forming a solar wind that drags the Sun’s magnetic field lines deep into space.
In 1959
The detection of Solar Wind
The Soviet satellite Luna 1, the first spacecraft to leave geocentric orbit, measures the solar wind directly for the first time, confirming key parts of Parker’s theory.
In 1962
NASA’s Mariner 2 spacecraft observes the solar wind and detects two distinct ‘streams’ within it: a slow stream traveling at approximately 215 miles per second, and a fast stream at 430 miles per second.
In 1973
The U.S.A first manned space station, Skylab, has identified that the fast solar wind is emitted from coronal holes — comparatively cool regions of the corona where the Sun’s magnetic field lines open out into space, which happens because the Corona tries to maintain the high heat pressure but it can't.
In 1988
Eugene Parker proposes that frequent, small eruptions on the Sun known as Nano flares may heat the corona to its extreme temperatures. The Nano flare theory contrasts with the wave theory, in which heating is caused by the dissipation of Alfvén waves.
Now we must know what is the Solar wind, the switchbacks and The Corona
The solar wind
What is the solar wind?
The solar wind is the Sun’s constant outflow of magnetized solar material. It comprises a steady stream of particles blowing away from the Sun, blustering at 800,000 to five million miles per hour. The solar wind carries a million tons of matter into space every second and reaches well beyond the solar system’s planets. The speed, density and magnetic fields associated with solar wind plasma affect Earth’s magnetosphere, its protective magnetic shield in space, inducing space weather effects.
What is the corona?
.The corona is part of the Sun’s atmosphere
The Sun is not a solid nor a gas, but plasma which is a superheated mix of electrically charged particles that stream along magnetic field lines. This plasma is tenuous and gaseous near the surface but gets denser toward the Sun’s core. The Sun’s core is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit, and the temperature cools dramatically toward the outer layers of the Sun. The middle layer of the Sun, called the convection zone, is 3.5 million degrees Fahrenheit. At the very surface, the Sun is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
What is the switchbacks?
Traveling disturbances in the solar wind that caused the magnetic field to bend back on itself.
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