EGU26-12552, updated on 14 Mar 2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-12552
EGU General Assembly 2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Oral | Wednesday, 06 May, 09:00–09:20 (CEST)
 
Room M1
The outer reaches of the Solar Corona as measured by Parker Solar Probe
Samuel Badman
Samuel Badman
  • Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, High Energy Astrophysics Department, Cambridge, United States of America (samuel.badman@cfa.harvard.edu)

Since December 2024, Parker Solar Probe has reached the mission's closest perihelion distance of 9.8 solar radii six times.  Data from each orbit has shown the spacecraft has been diving deep below the Sun's Alfvén surface with each pass, and covering nearly half the Sun at the same time. These measurements may therefore be interpreted as some of the most unambiguous direct sampling of a star's corona to date in regions which could previously only be probed with remote sensing techniques. In this talk we will review some recent insights into the large scale structure of the solar maximum corona and the Alfvén surface revealed by these new data, as well as our recent work studying the properties of polar-like fast solar wind in its early life and its subsequent evolution. We will close with a brief discussion on what we stand to learn with Parker continuing these deep dives as the Sun retreats into its next solar minimum.

 

How to cite: Badman, S.: The outer reaches of the Solar Corona as measured by Parker Solar Probe, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-12552, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-12552, 2026.