NASA is About to Launch a Sun-Skimming Solar Probe

Imagine yourself standing comfortably in front of a warm, cozy fire. Suddenly, you start to feel just a little too toasty, so you take a few steps away. But wait--now that you're farther from the fire, it's even hotter! Huh?This is a rough analogy for the Sun's corona, the rarefied halo of plasma that extends millions of miles beyond the Sun's surface. If you were able to catch the solar eclipse in August 2017, you may have had a glimpse of the corona peeking out from behind the moon--it's that ...