Parker Solar Probe Spots Coronal Streamer
November 8, 2018
| Credit | NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe |
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| Historical Date | November 8, 2018 |
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This image from Parker Solar Probe's WISPR (Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe) instrument shows a coronal streamer, seen over the east limb of the Sun on Nov. 8, 2018, at 1:12 a.m. EST.
Coronal streamers are structures of solar material within the Sun's atmosphere, the corona, that usually overlie regions of increased solar activity. The fine structure of the streamer is very clear, with at least two rays visible.
Parker Solar Probe was about 16.9 million miles (27 million kilometers) from the Sun's surface when this image was taken.
The bright object near the center of the image is Mercury, and the dark spots are a result of background correction.
