Touching the Sun with a solar probe helps scientists uncover critical information. Everything scientists discover about the nature of the Sun also helps to reveal more about stars in the rest of the universe. Previous space craft were too far to see the structure and direction of the solar wind- a flux of particles that flow in high enough speeds to escape the Sun's gravitational field. The solar wind creates the tails of comets and Earth's magnetosphere, which has a lower boundary of several hundred kilometers above the Earth's surface. In 2019, Parker discovered zig-zag like structures in the solar wind, called switchbacks, and noticed that they existed more plentifully close to the Sun. Now that the Parker Probe has passed closer to Sun's surface, it has been able to ascertain those switchbacks originate on the solar surface itself.

If the Sun doesn't have a solid surface, like Earth, how do we determine where solar atmosphere ends and the solar wind begins? The Sun's superheated atmosphere is bound to the Sun by gravity and magnetic forces. Historically, scientists were unsure at what point gravity and magnetic fields were to weak to contain that solar material, but named the theoretical point the Alfvén critical surface. On April 28, 2021, during its eighth flyby of the Sun, the Parker crossed the Alfven critical surface for the first time- finding the conditions at 8.1 million miles above the solar surface.

On December 24, 2024, the Parker will attempt it's closest approach yet- just 3.83 million miles from the Sun's surface. This final swoop of solar surfing for the Parker will be used to investigate different types of waves in the Sun's solar winds.