February 2025 Meeting:
The Parker Solar Probe
Presented by Alan Stahler
Back in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe launched into space, and began falling toward the sun. By December of last year, the probe had fallen to within four million miles of the sun. Having fallen from Earth – 93 million miles out – it had picked up some speed; as it flew past the sun, it was traveling not quite half-a-million miles an hour.
The sun is so hot, it is in neither the solid, liquid, nor gaseous state. The sun is in the fourth state of matter – it is a ball of plasma. Plasmas behave differently from the other three states, making the sun an object we are still far from understanding completely.
At the next meeting of Nevada County Astronomers, Al Stahler will talk about some of the PSP’s early findings, and will present some truly stunning images of the Sun. NCA meetings are always free (as are the cookies), and all are welcome. This is something older kids will enjoy.
** Note **
For the “Summer Season” (July and August) the NC Astronomers will be meeting on-line via Zoom. Club members will receive the keys to the Zoom conference in their email via Groups.io.
NC Astronomers Meets on the 1st Wednesday each month at 7pm in the
Madelyn Helling Library Community Room
980 Helling Way
Nevada City, CA 95959
(September – May)
** NC Astronomers “YouTube” channel **
Many of the presentations are recorded and posted to the club’s YouTube channel. Please see https://www.youtube.com/@ncastronomers9981/videos