The Parker Solar Probe, which blasted off from Earth on 12 August last year, has brought back troves of data, some of which shows “an unexpected series of flips” in the Sun’s magnetic field which researchers described as “strange”.

At certain periods, the magnetic field suddenly reversed itself by 180 degrees and then, seconds to hours later, flipped back.

Earth is roughly 150 million kilometres from the Sun and the probe ventured as close as 24 million kilometres to gather the data used in the studies. It will eventually travel within about six million kilometres from the Sun’s surface, seven times closer than any previous spacecraft.

University of Michigan researchers said the data provides important insights into why the Sun’s corona get hotter further away from the surface and what accelerates the solar wind – an outward stream of protons, electrons and other particles emanating from the corona.

These insights could help scientists prepare for solar storms and coronal mass ejections that can impact electronics and power grids on Earth.

The spacecraft revealed that the sun’s rotation impacts the solar wind much farther away than previously thought.

Researchers knew that further in, the Sun’s magnetic field pulls the wind in the same direction as the star’s rotation. Farther from the Sun, at the distance the spacecraft measured in these first encounters, they had expected to see, at most, a weak signature of that rotation.

“To our great surprise, as we neared the Sun, we’ve already detected large rotational flows – 10 to 20 times greater than what standard models of the Sun predict,” said University of Michigan professor Justin Kasper. “So we are missing something fundamental about the Sun, and how the solar wind escapes.

“This has huge implications. Space weather forecasting will need to account for these flows if we are going to be able to predict whether a coronal mass ejection will strike Earth, or astronauts heading to the Moon or Mars.”

Stuart Bale, a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and lead author of another paper analysing the results, said: “The first three encounters of the solar probe that we have had so far have been spectacular.

“We can see the magnetic structure of the corona, which tells us that the solar wind is emerging from small coronal holes; we see impulsive activity, large jets or switchbacks which we think are related to the origin of the solar wind; we see instability – the gas itself is unstable and is generating waves on its own.”

Understanding more about solar activity could help scientists forecast the large eruptions from the Sun that pose a threat to satellite and communications systems.

Over the next five years, the probe will continue to make new discoveries as it moves closer to the Sun, eventually making its closest approach in the year 2024, as it flies six million kilometres above the solar surface.

During its scorching journey, the probe will orbit the Sun 24 times while being subjected to extreme heat and radiation, with temperatures expected to reach 1,377C, nearly hot enough to melt steel.

As it gets closer to the Sun, the probe is expected to hurtle around the star at 430,000 miles an hour, which will make it faster than any spacecraft in history.

The Parker Solar Probe, which blasted off from Earth on 12 August last year, has brought back troves of data, some of which shows “an unexpected series of flips” in the Sun’s magnetic field which researchers described as “strange”.

At certain periods, the magnetic field suddenly reversed itself by 180 degrees and then, seconds to hours later, flipped back.

Earth is roughly 150 million kilometres from the Sun and the probe ventured as close as 24 million kilometres to gather the data used in the studies. It will eventually travel within about six million kilometres from the Sun’s surface, seven times closer than any previous spacecraft.

University of Michigan researchers said the data provides important insights into why the Sun’s corona get hotter further away from the surface and what accelerates the solar wind – an outward stream of protons, electrons and other particles emanating from the corona.

These insights could help scientists prepare for solar storms and coronal mass ejections that can impact electronics and power grids on Earth.

The spacecraft revealed that the sun’s rotation impacts the solar wind much farther away than previously thought.

Researchers knew that further in, the Sun’s magnetic field pulls the wind in the same direction as the star’s rotation. Farther from the Sun, at the distance the spacecraft measured in these first encounters, they had expected to see, at most, a weak signature of that rotation.

“To our great surprise, as we neared the Sun, we’ve already detected large rotational flows – 10 to 20 times greater than what standard models of the Sun predict,” said University of Michigan professor Justin Kasper. “So we are missing something fundamental about the Sun, and how the solar wind escapes.

“This has huge implications. Space weather forecasting will need to account for these flows if we are going to be able to predict whether a coronal mass ejection will strike Earth, or astronauts heading to the Moon or Mars.”

Stuart Bale, a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and lead author of another paper analysing the results, said: “The first three encounters of the solar probe that we have had so far have been spectacular.

“We can see the magnetic structure of the corona, which tells us that the solar wind is emerging from small coronal holes; we see impulsive activity, large jets or switchbacks which we think are related to the origin of the solar wind; we see instability – the gas itself is unstable and is generating waves on its own.”

Understanding more about solar activity could help scientists forecast the large eruptions from the Sun that pose a threat to satellite and communications systems.

Over the next five years, the probe will continue to make new discoveries as it moves closer to the Sun, eventually making its closest approach in the year 2024, as it flies six million kilometres above the solar surface.

During its scorching journey, the probe will orbit the Sun 24 times while being subjected to extreme heat and radiation, with temperatures expected to reach 1,377C, nearly hot enough to melt steel.

As it gets closer to the Sun, the probe is expected to hurtle around the star at 430,000 miles an hour, which will make it faster than any spacecraft in history.