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An representation of stray sunlight and the satellite taken connected April 27 by the PUNCH mission's Narrow Field Imager during commissioning. The prima is mostly blocked retired by the instrument's occulter, which creates a dark, circular shadiness implicit the sun. . | Credit: Southwest Research Institute
The satellite hovers implicit a shadowy void wreathed successful sunlight successful a stunning caller photograph taken by NASA's Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) ngo connected April 27.
PUNCH is simply a postulation of 4 tiny satellites orbiting Earth with their instruments aimed astatine the sun. Launched connected March 11, its extremity is to survey the star upwind — the watercourse of charged particles emanating from the prima and the origin of abstraction weather. It volition bash truthful by taking pictures of the prima and the abstraction betwixt it and Earth.
To hole for its subject operations phase, PUNCH indispensable spell done commissioning — a signifier of instrumentality investigating and alignment. The representation supra was taken arsenic portion of the commissioning process. The dark, circular shadiness is from the "occulter." The occulter is needed to forestall the sun's airy from overwhelming the images, conscionable similar the satellite blocks retired the prima during a star eclipse, revealing the delicate streamers and filaments that agelong from the sun's aboveground into the corona, the sun's outermost atmosphere.
The aureate glow surrounding the prima is airy reflecting disconnected the occulter, and the acheronian areas astatine the apical of the representation are extracurricular the instrument's tract of view. The satellite is illuminated by airy reflected disconnected Earth. Images collected during the mission's subject operations volition acquisition much processing to region the stray airy and immoderate tiny distortions near by contamination to uncover elaborate images of the sun's corona.
Related: The prima conscionable spat retired the strongest star flares of 2025 — and much could beryllium headed toward Earth
Photos of the sun's corona tin assistance scientists survey the star upwind — the much than 300,000 tons (272,000 metric tons) of worldly the prima blasts into abstraction each 2nd astatine a cardinal mph (1.6 cardinal km/h), bathing the full star strategy successful a feisty stew of charged particles. The star upwind is liable for geomagnetic storms that, connected Earth, tin origin powerfulness grid failures and vigor blackouts, and disrupt oregon harm satellites. Understanding the star upwind helps america hole for geomagnetic storms truthful beingness connected Earth tin proceed without disruption.
A star prominence imaged by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory successful utmost ultraviolet light, with Earth added for scale. Solar prominences, sometimes called filaments, are monolithic loops of blistery plasma that travel tangles successful the sun's magnetic field. | Credit: NASA/SDO
The photos PUNCH volition instrumentality won't straight amusement the sun's volatile magnetic field. Instead, they'll amusement massive, glowing plasma loops and outbursts that are shaped by it. Patterns successful the streamers and filaments emanating from the prima assistance researchers representation retired regions that are connected to the utmost abstraction upwind that causes geomagnetic storms connected Earth. When combined with information collected wrong the sun's corona by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP), PUNCH's subject volition alteration a overmuch deeper knowing of the processes that thrust the star wind. This knowledge, successful turn, tin assistance support the satellite from geomagnetic storms.
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"PSP and PUNCH are some moving to unite 2 abstracted branches of heliophysics into a unified whole," PUNCH's main investigator, Craig DeForest, told Live Science successful an email. "PSP is carrying the techniques of abstraction physics (in-situ sampling) inward to interaction and measurement the star corona. PUNCH is extending the techniques of star physics (scientific imaging) outward to measurement however the star corona touches us. The 2 missions complement each different beautifully."
PUNCH is scheduled to implicit its commissioning signifier June 9 and volition commencement collecting caller images of the prima and the country astir it continuously. The information collected volition beryllium disposable to anyone who wishes to entree it arsenic portion of PUNCH's committedness to open, inclusive science.
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