                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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 March 31

                 Parker: The Solar System from Near the Sun
     Video Credit: NASA, JHUAPL, Naval Research Lab, Parker Solar Probe;
                         h/t: Richard Petarius III;
   Music: Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 by N. Rimsky-Korsakov;
    Source: Musopen; Performance: Czech National Symphony Orchestra (via
                  Musopen); Music Credit: Wikimedia Commons

   Explanation: If you watch long enough, a comet will appear. Before
   then, you will see our Solar System from inside the orbit of Mercury as
   recorded by NASA's Parker Solar Probe looping around the Sun. The video
   captures coronal streamers into the solar wind, a small Coronal Mass
   Ejection, and planets including, in order of appearance, Mercury,
   Venus, Saturn, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter. Between the emergence of Earth
   and Mars, Comet Tempel 1 appears with a distinctive tail. The
   continuous fleeting streaks are high energy particles from the Sun
   impacting Parker's sideways looking camera. The featured time-lapse
   video was taken last year during Encounter 21, Parker's 21st close
   approach to the Sun. Studying data and images from Parker are
   delivering a better understanding of the dynamic Sun's effects on
   Earth's space weather as well as humanity's power grids, spacecraft,
   and space-faring astronauts.

            Growing Gallery: Partial Solar Eclipse of 2025 March
                     Tomorrow's picture: yes, flocculent
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

