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<!doctype html> <html> <head> <title>Astronomy Picture of the Day </title>  <meta name="orgcode" content="661"> <meta name="rno" content="amber.n.straughn"> <meta name="content-owner" content="Jerry.T.Bonnell.1"> <meta name="webmaster" content="Stephen.F.Fantasia.1"> <meta name="description" content="A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.">  <meta name=viewport content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="keywords" content="Parker Solar Probe, Solar System, solar wind">  <script id="_fed_an_ua_tag" src="//dap.digitalgov.gov/Universal-Federated-Analytics-Min.js?agency=NASA"> </script> </head> <body BGCOLOR="#F4F4FF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#7F0F9F" alink="#FF0000"> <center> <h1> Astronomy Picture of the Day </h1> <a href="archivepix.html">Discover the cosmos!</a> 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 <iframe width="960" height="900" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YW1yQt3K_YY" title="Parker: The Solar System from Near the Sun" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> </center> <center> Parker: The Solar System from Near the Sun Video Credit: <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>, <a href="https://www.jhuapl.edu/">JHUAPL</a>, <a href="https://www.nrl.navy.mil/">Naval Research Lab</a>, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe" >Parker Solar Probe</a>; h/t: <a href="https://www.uww.edu/ce/camps/music/cellofest/richard-petarius-bio" >Richard Petarius III</a>; Music: Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 by N. Rimsky-Korsakov; Source: <a href="https://musopen.org/">Musopen</a>; Performance: Czech National Symphony Orchestra (via Musopen); Music Credit: <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rimsky-Korsakov,_Russian_Easter_Festival_Overture,_Op._36.ogg">Wikimedia Commons</a> </center> Explanation: If you watch long enough, a comet will appear. Before then, you will see <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/" >our Solar System</a> from inside the orbit of <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mercury/">Mercury</a> as recorded by <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>'s <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/parker-solar-probe/" >Parker Solar Probe</a> looping around the <a href="ap231119.html">Sun</a>. The video captures coronal streamers into the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/sun/what-is-the-solar-wind/" >solar wind</a>, a small <a href="ap000309.html">Coronal Mass Ejection</a>, and planets including, in order of appearance, <a href="ap190428.html">Mercury</a>, <a href="ap210317.html">Venus</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn">Saturn</a>, <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/">Earth</a>, <a href="ap161005.html">Mars</a>, and <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/">Jupiter</a>. Between the emergence of Earth and Mars, <a href="ap110216.html">Comet Tempel 1</a> appears with a distinctive tail. The continuous fleeting streaks are <a href="https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/s/Solar+Cosmic+Rays" >high energy particles from the Sun</a> impacting Parker's sideways looking <a href="https://wispr.nrl.navy.mil/">camera</a>. The <a href="https://wispr.nrl.navy.mil/wisprdata" >featured time-lapse video</a> was taken last year during <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/parkersolarprobe/2024/10/03/parker-solar-probe-completes-21st-close-approach-to-the-sun/">Encounter 21</a>, Parker's 21st close approach to the Sun. <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/mmt7oo/gaming_cat_or_studying/#lightbox" >Studying</a> data and images from <a href="https://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/" >Parker</a> are delivering a better understanding of the dynamic Sun's effects on Earth's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_weather" >space weather</a> as <a href="https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/sun-space-weather/what-space-weather" >well as</a> humanity's power grids, spacecraft, and space-faring astronauts. <center> Growing Gallery: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.651616110900303&type=3" >Partial Solar Eclipse of 2025 March</a> Tomorrow's picture: yes, flocculent <hr> <a href="ap250330.html"><</a> | <a href="archivepix.html">Archive</a> | <a href="lib/apsubmit2015.html">Submissions</a> | <a href="lib/aptree.html">Index</a> | <a href="https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search">Search</a> | <a href="calendar/allyears.html">Calendar</a> | <a href="https://apod.com/feed.rss">RSS</a> | <a href="lib/edlinks.html">Education</a> | <a href="lib/about_apod.html">About APOD</a> | <a href= "https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250331">Discuss</a> | <a href="ap250401.html">></a> <hr> Authors & editors: <a href="http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html">Robert Nemiroff</a> (<a href="http://www.phy.mtu.edu/">MTU</a>) & <a href="https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html" >Jerry Bonnell</a> (<a href="http://www.astro.umd.edu/">UMCP</a>) NASA Official: Amber Straughn <a href="lib/about_apod.html#srapply">Specific rights apply</a>. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html">NASA Web Privacy</a>, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/">Accessibility</a>, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/">Notices</a>; A service of: <a href="https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/">ASD</a> at <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a> / <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/">GSFC</a>, <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/learners">NASA Science Activation</a> & <a href="http://www.mtu.edu/">Michigan Tech. 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