Parker Solar Probe

The Parker Solar Probe is a NASA spacecraft designed to study the Sun and its atmosphere. It was launched on August 12, 2018, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and is currently orbiting the Sun in a highly elliptical orbit that takes it closer to the Sun than any previous spacecraft. The mission objectives of the Parker Solar Probe are to study the structure and dynamics of the Sun's corona, the Sun's magnetic field, and the solar wind. To achieve this, the probe will make a total of 24 close approaches to the Sun over the course of its mission, getting as close as 3.83 million miles from the Sun's surface, which is about 7 times closer than any previous spacecraft. By studying the Sun up close, the Parker Solar Probe aims to improve our understanding of space weather and its effects on Earth, as well as providing new insights into the fundamental processes that govern stars in the universe.

Parker Solar Probe is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius.

The current Right Ascension of Parker Solar Probe is 18h 57m 49s and the Declination is -24° 39’ 07” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt).

Today's rise, transit and set times of Parker Solar Probe from Greenwich, United Kingdom edit_location_alt (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Parker Solar Probe?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Parker Solar Probe from Earth?)
• When does Parker Solar Probe rise and set?
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Parker Solar Probe with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Parker Solar Probe for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Parker Solar Probe in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Parker Solar Probe with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Parker Solar Probe is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

Also check out Where is Parker Solar Probe?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Parker Solar Probe in the sky and additional links to sky charts.

Parker Solar Probe Distance from Earth

The distance of Parker Solar Probe from Earth is currently 176,775,627 kilometers, equivalent to 1.181672 Astronomical Units. Light takes 9 minutes and 49.6600 seconds to travel from Parker Solar Probe and arrive to us.

The following chart shows the distance of Parker Solar Probe from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.

The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Parker Solar Probe from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.

Closest Approach of Parker Solar Probe to Earth

Between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2024, the closest approach of Parker Solar Probe to Earth happens on Mon Aug 19 2024 at a distance of 0.281441 Astronomical Units, or 42,102,964 kilometers:

NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Visualization of Parker Solar Probe Orbit

This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Parker Solar Probe with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Parker Solar Probe and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!

Parker Solar Probe 15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of Parker Solar Probe computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Parker Solar Probe in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.

Date	Right AscensionR.A.	DeclinationDec.	MagnitudeMag	Constellation
2023 Nov 25	18h 38m 48s	-25° 07’ 50”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Nov 26	18h 41m 39s	-25° 04’ 19”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Nov 27	18h 44m 26s	-25° 00’ 39”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Nov 28	18h 47m 08s	-24° 56’ 49”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Nov 29	18h 49m 46s	-24° 52’ 50”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Nov 30	18h 52m 20s	-24° 48’ 43”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 01	18h 54m 51s	-24° 44’ 29”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 02	18h 57m 15s	-24° 40’ 06”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 03	18h 59m 35s	-24° 35’ 39”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 04	19h 01m 50s	-24° 31’ 06”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 05	19h 04m 00s	-24° 26’ 29”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 06	19h 06m 06s	-24° 21’ 47”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 07	19h 08m 06s	-24° 17’ 03”	N.A.	Sagittarius
2023 Dec 08	19h 09m 59s	-24° 12’ 17”	N.A.	Sagittarius