Parker Solar Probe captures closest ever image of Sun's surface

WASHINGTON, Dec 16: NASA's Parker Solar Probe recently dove deeper into the sun's atmosphere than any spacecraft before.

And it has the photos to prove it. Its approach brought it within 15 million miles - far closer than the planet Mercury - from the Sun's surface, travelling at 213,200 miles per hour, which is the fastest any man-made spacecraft has ever travelled.

"Parker is an exploration mission - the potential for new discoveries is huge," says Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University.

Launched four months ago, the heavily-shielded probe - an exploration craft that will swoop progressively closer to the sun over the next six years - came within 16.9 million miles of the sun's surface when it captured this orange-tinged image on November 8.

The Parker Solar Probe had to travel very quickly to get such a clear view. The Sun rotates once every 27 days, meaning that any spacecraft near it has to keep up, especially given the Sun's massive size.