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NASA released the imagery on July 10, 2025, but Parker Solar Probe captured it during its record-setting encounter on December 24–25, 2024. Flying about 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) above the Sun’s visible surface, the spacecraft passed through the corona and recorded the closest-ever views of the Sun’s atmosphere.
These are not conventional close-ups of the solar surface. Parker’s Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (WISPR) shows the faint corona, solar-wind streams, magnetic structures and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) moving around the Sun.
What Parker Solar Probe actually photographed
WISPR looks outward from Parker rather than directly at the Sun’s bright photosphere. The spacecraft’s heat shield blocks much of the intense sunlight, allowing the instrument to image the surrounding corona and material flowing through it. NASA describes the results as the closest-ever images of the Sun’s atmosphere, a more precise description than “closest pictures of the Sun.”
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- The corona: the Sun’s extremely hot, thin outer atmosphere.
- Solar wind: the continuous flow of charged particles escaping the Sun.
- Coronal structures: rays, streamers and magnetic features that shape the outflow.
- Coronal mass ejections: large eruptions of plasma and magnetic fields.
- Inflowing material: some matter moving back toward the Sun after an eruption.
The released sequences are processed and assembled from WISPR observations. Contrast enhancement, stitching and time-lapse presentation make faint structures easier to see, so bright streaks should not be interpreted as surface flames, new explosions or spacecraft damage.
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The record-breaking encounter
| Detail | What happened |
|---|---|
| Closest approach | December 24, 2024; WISPR imagery in the release also includes December 25. |
| Distance | About 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) above the solar surface. |
| Speed | Approximately 430,000 miles per hour (687,000 kilometers per hour). |
| Location | Inside the corona, not on or touching the visible surface. |
| Instrument | WISPR, the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe. |
| Release date | July 10, 2025; NASA’s page was updated July 11, 2025. |
NASA sometimes says Parker “touches the Sun.” That is shorthand for entering the corona. The probe did not contact the photosphere. During the closest pass, communications were temporarily unavailable; a beacon received late on December 26 confirmed that the spacecraft was healthy and operating normally.
How the spacecraft survived
Parker’s carbon-foam thermal shield was designed to keep the instruments near room temperature while the shield’s front faced conditions NASA estimated at roughly 1,800°F during the encounter. Distance alone does not describe the thermal challenge: the corona is extremely hot but very low-density, and the shield’s orientation and rapid flight through the environment are crucial to limiting heat transfer.
The probe’s speed and trajectory also matter. Parker sweeps around the Sun on repeated orbits, using Venus flybys to reshape its path and set new distance and speed records without firing a conventional engine to slow into the Sun.
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What viewers can see in the NASA release
Solar-wind streams and coronal structure
The WISPR frames show uneven streams and rays extending through the corona. These patterns reveal how magnetic fields guide plasma before the solar wind becomes more dispersed farther from the Sun.
CMEs interacting in the corona
NASA said the imagery shows multiple CMEs “piling up” or merging. When eruptions interact, their paths, particle acceleration and magnetic fields can change, complicating predictions of how they will affect the heliosphere.
Material moving inward
In a later analysis of the same December 2024 encounter, scientists identified elongated blobs moving back toward the Sun in the wake of a CME. Earlier spacecraft had seen similar “inflows” from farther away; Parker’s proximity allowed researchers to measure their motion and scale in greater detail.
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Why these observations matter scientifically
Parker is close enough to observe solar material before it has spread out and mixed over millions of miles. WISPR’s images can therefore be compared with Parker’s direct measurements of particles, plasma, electric fields and magnetic fields.
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NASA is using the combined observations to investigate how the solar wind begins and accelerates. The mission distinguishes two broad forms of slow solar wind:
- Alfvénic slow wind, associated with small-scale magnetic “switchbacks.”
- Non-Alfvénic slow wind, which lacks those variations.
Researchers are investigating whether non-Alfvénic wind originates near helmet streamers and whether Alfvénic wind may emerge near coronal holes. These are candidate source regions, not settled conclusions.
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Understanding coronal heating
The corona reaches temperatures above 1 million degrees Fahrenheit, far hotter than the visible surface. Parker’s measurements help test how magnetic energy and plasma processes heat the corona and launch the solar wind.
Improving CME models
Watching CMEs close to their origin helps scientists connect visible shapes with the magnetic and particle data needed to model how eruptions evolve. Better models could eventually improve estimates of a CME’s arrival time, magnetic orientation and likely effects.
What this means for Earth and astronauts
Solar wind and CMEs drive space weather. Strong disturbances can interfere with satellites and spacecraft, disrupt radio communications and navigation, increase radiation exposure for astronauts, and induce currents in electrical infrastructure.
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The July 2025 release does not forecast a particular storm on Earth. Its value is longer-term: observations close to the Sun improve the physical models used to understand how disturbances form and travel. NASA has linked that work to safer planning for Artemis astronauts and future lunar and Mars missions.
What happened after the image release?
The mission continued beyond the July 2025 publication. NASA reported Parker’s 28th close solar pass in June 2026 and said activity beyond late 2026 was under review. The later “solar-wind U-turn” result, reported January 28, 2026, came from analysis of the December 2024 data rather than a new image-release event.
Where to view the official images and video
NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio page provides the official video, still images and downloadable MP4 and WebM versions. The page includes credits for the imagery and visualization; use the full credit line where applicable: NASA / Johns Hopkins APL / Naval Research Lab.
Mission background, instrument information and additional updates are available from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission page. WISPR data-user resources are available through the WISPR data portal.
The bottom line
Parker Solar Probe did not photograph the Sun’s solid-looking surface. It flew through the corona at record speed and distance, using WISPR to reveal solar wind, magnetic structures and interacting CMEs before they evolved farther from the Sun. That combination of close-up imaging and direct particle and field measurements is why the release matters for solar physics, space-weather forecasting and future human missions.
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