Encounter 8 Summary

Encounter 8 (2021-04-24 - 2021-05-04, with limited additional data 2021-04-14 - 2021-05-15)

This animation shows all WISPR full-field observations from the eighth PSP Mission Encounter (04-24-2021 - 05-04-2021), processed via the LW Algorithm developed by Dr. Guillermo Stenborg (JHUAPL) and detailed in Appendix A of Howard et al. 2022 (ApJ, 936, id.43. DOI 10.3847/1538-4357/ac7ff5). We have superimposed a grid showing heliocentric longitude and latitude, and a scale representation of the size and location of the Sun in the observations. The velocity and distance metrics displayed on the movies correspond respectively to the spacecraft's heliocentric velocity in kilometers per second, and its distance from the Sun's center in units of solar radii (where 1 solar radius = 695,700km). The timespan of this composite movie covers only the nominal science window when the spacecraft was within 0.25 au.
You can also download this movie directly as a 219MB mp4 file. It is also available in the same format using the L3 images, which can be downloaded here as a 59MB mp4 file.

[Credit: NASA/NRL/JHUAPL. Movie processed/compiled by Guillermo Stenborg (JHUAPL) and Brendan Gallagher (NRL).]

Solar Features

2021/04/24 16:00 CME
2021/04/24 21:00 Repeating Loop Structures (Possible CME flythrough or repeating outflow stream)
2021/04/25 18:00 CME
2021/04/26 16:30 Streamer blob
2021/04/27 03:00 Streamer blob
2021/04/27 14:30 CME
2021/04/28 17:00 Streamer blob
2021/04/29 00:00 HCS Crossing
2021/05/01 02:00 Streamer blob
2021/05/04 02:30 CME

Comets and planets

No comets were observed during this encounter.

The following planets can be seen in the nominal encounter sequence movie (top of page), moving from left to right:

  • TBD

Operations summary

  • N/A

Miscellaneous notes

  • N/A

Encounter 8 Data Products

Released data for all encounters can be obtained from our WISPR Data Page. Descriptions of other encounters can be found on the Encounter Summaries Page.

N/A