NASA probe ‘touches the Sun’ and records 'creepiest noise ever heard'
A NASA probe has 'touched the Sun' in a historic moment, capturing the sound of solar flares as they fly out through space. And the noise has left people absolutely terrified.
The NASA Parker Solar Probe was launched back in 2018 with a key objective of monitoring the Sun's outer corona (scientific wording for the most outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere).
Using Venus to help pull it through the void of space, the Parker probe has by this stage done its fair share of flybys of the Sun. But its closest one to date came on Christmas Eve last year, passing through the outer corona on multiple occasions in a move NASA described as 'touching the Sun'.
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And while 3.8 million miles away from the surface of the Sun might sound like a long distance, we've got to remember just how hot the Sun is.
Much closer and you risk the integrity of the spacecraft, with its carbon foam shield - which can withstand temperatures of up to 1,425 degrees Celsius - more at risk the closer it gets with the surface of the Sun roughly 5,600C.
Travelling at a whopping 430,000 miles per hour, it became the fastest human-made object of all time back on December 24, 2024.
"Flying this close to the Sun is a historic moment in humanity’s first mission to a star," said Nicky Fox, who leads the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
"By studying the Sun up close, we can better understand its impacts throughout our solar system, including on the technology we use daily on Earth and in space, as well as learn about the workings of stars across the universe to aid in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet."
When flying through the solar corona, the probe has been taking measurements that help scientists better understand how this region around the Sun gets so hot. It also allows them to trace the origin of the solar wind, which is the constant flow of material shooting out of the Sun.
It is during these flybys that the 'sound' of solar winds was captured. And it is one of the 'creepiest noises ever heard' according to those online.
"Damn, that sound is chilling," one Redditor posted.
Another wrote: "I've no idea what I see but it looks quite eerie."
And a third posted on Instagram: "Sounds like what I always envisioned the sounds and screams coming from Hell."
Have a watch - and listen - for yourself:
The clip shows the probe zooming through the Sun's outer corona, capturing a high pitched screech that some have said sounds like a scream.
Don't worry, though. This is't science fiction, with the sound caused by fast moving solar wind flying through space after being catapulted out of the Sun.
Due to there being no sound in space, once the solar wind leaves the outer corona and therefore the Sun's atmosphere, it falls silent.
The probe's next planned close solar passes come on 22 March and 19 June, where more data will be collected about this very hot region of space.
Tom Earnshaw