Washington – (AFP) – The American astrophysicist Eugene Parker, who specialized in the sun and the first to develop a theory about the existence of the solar wind, has died at the age of 94, according to what the American space agency (NASA) announced on Wednesday.
The late distinguished his abilities in applied mathematics, and he was considered one of the most prominent pioneers in the field of solar physics, which is the study of the sun and its system.
In 2018, Parker attended the launch of a research probe bearing his name.
Angela Olento, dean of the College of Physics at the University of Chicago, said that Parker, who indicated that he died on Tuesday, “was a legendary figure” in this scientific field.
The official at the university to which the deceased belonged noted that “his vision of the sun and the solar system was far ahead of its time.”
Olento was referring to his paper in 1958, which described for the first time, using advanced calculations, the phenomenon of the solar wind, which is continuous flows of particles originating from the Sun, a discovery that was initially rejected.
Parks recounted in 2018 that the first person who reviewed his scientific article said, “Well, I think he should go to the library and delve into this before writing an article about it, because (his study) is nonsense.”
However, Parker’s conclusions in his study were confirmed in 1962 by direct observation of the solar wind by a NASA probe.
It has become established for scientists today that the solar wind sweeps all the planets in the solar system, protecting them from dangerous radiation.
The late was also behind the idea of ”nanoflares”, which are small explosions on the sun that explain the heat of the solar corona, which is hotter than its surface itself.
Parker, who has received a number of honors, was made an honorary professor at the University of Chicago.
The Parker probe, named after him and launched in 2018, succeeded in approaching the sun in an unprecedented way, and transmitted to researchers a large amount of data that contributed to a number of discoveries, especially about space weather.
