Looking up - 13 December 2019

NASA's Parker solar probe has been sending us unprecedented detail about our nearest star, as it flies within the corona of the Sun, a mere 7 million kms from its centre. Switchbacks, intense magnetic flips, and erratic solar winds are some of the new phenomena observed by the spacecraft. It's good to know more about the Sun, as extreme solar weather can affect instruments and astronauts close to the Earth and can cause power outages - and we know about those don't we!