Parker Solar Probe: Close-up Images of the Sun

NASA has released images taken by the Parker Solar Probe during its close encounter with the Sun on December 24, 2025. These images, along with other data, will help scientists understand the mysteries of the solar wind and its effects on Earth.

Parker Solar Probe was launched on August 12, 2018, from Cape Canaveral aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. After repeatedly using Venus's gravitational pull, it reached its closest point to the Sun on December 24, 2024. Using the Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe ( WISPR ) instrument, the probe took several photographs from a distance of about 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) from the Sun's surface while traveling at about 430,000 miles (690,000 km/h) .

Through the Sun's outer atmosphere, known as the corona , the spacecraft also collected extensive data with its other scientific instruments. WISPR integrates two telescopes with radiation-hardened CMOS sensors. They can observe visible light and near-infrared radiation. In addition to the corona, the images show the solar wind , a continuous stream of electrically charged particles spreading throughout the solar system.

Along with blasts of material and magnetic currents from the Sun, the solar wind helps generate auroras, thin the atmospheres of planets, and induce electrical currents that can damage power grids and affect communications on Earth.

The images allow scientists to closely observe what happens to the solar wind immediately after it is released from the corona. They can see the boundary where the direction of the solar magnetic field changes from north to south, called the heliospheric current spread. The images also highlight the collision of multiple coronal mass ejections in high resolution. The next close encounter with the Sun will occur on September 15th.