Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2025 August 11 Your browser does not support the video tag. Closest Ever Images Near the Sun Video Credit: [2]NASA, [3]JHUAPL, [4]Naval Research Lab, [5]Parker Solar Probe Explanation: Everybody sees the Sun. Nobody's been there. Starting in 2018, though, NASA [6]launched the robotic [7]Parker Solar Probe (PSP) to investigate regions near to the [8]Sun for the first time. The [9]featured time-lapse video shows the view looking sideways from [10]behind PSP's Sun shield in December during the [11]closest approach of any human-made spacecraft to the Sun, [12]looping down to only about five solar diameters above the [13]Sun's hot surface. The PSP's Wide Field Imager for Solar Probe ([14]WISPR) cameras took these images over seven hours, but they are digitally compressed here into about 5 seconds. The [15]solar corona, including colliding [16]coronal mass ejections (CMEs), is visible here in [17]unprecedented detail, with stars [18]passing far in the background. The Sun is not only Earth's dominant [19]energy source, but its variable [20]solar wind also compresses Earth's atmosphere, triggers auroras, affects power grids, and can even [21]damage orbiting communication satellites. Tomorrow's picture: [22]sky flow __________________________________________________________________ [23]< | [24]Archive | [25]Submissions | [26]Index | [27]Search | [28]Calendar | [29]RSS | [30]Education | [31]About APOD | [32]Discuss | [33]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [34]Robert Nemiroff ([35]MTU) & [36]Jerry Bonnell ([37]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [38]Specific rights apply. [39]NASA Web Privacy, [40]Accessibility, [41]Notices; A service of: [42]ASD at [43]NASA / [44]GSFC, [45]NASA Science Activation & [46]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://www.nasa.gov/ 3. https://www.jhuapl.edu/ 4. https://www.nrl.navy.mil/ 5. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180815.html 7. https://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/ 8. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/ 9. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14865 10. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03665-3 11. https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/nasas-parker-solar-probe-snaps-closest-ever-images-to-sun/ 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe#Timeline 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111106.html 14. https://wispr.nrl.navy.mil/ 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230516.html 16. https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/what-coronal-mass-ejection-or-cme/ 17. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQXmwoxMT4Txn3iwvV4PBzOc2O-WIVJ8wE-Q&s 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240219.html 19. https://www.energy.gov/energy-sources?nrg_redirect=267706 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap000318.html 21. https://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/rhessi3/mission/science/the-impact-of-flares/index.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250812.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250810.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 29. https://apod.com/feed.rss 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 32. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250811 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250812.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 37. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 39. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 40. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 42. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 43. https://www.nasa.gov/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 45. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 46. http://www.mtu.edu/