NASA Captures Rare Space Rainbow Tracing the Solar Wind

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NASA's PUNCH mission just photographed what looks like a rainbow in space, revealing hidden details about our Sun's behavior.

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Unlike Earth's rainbows after rain, this colorful space glow happens when sunlight bounces off tiny dust particles floating between planets.

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The dust creating this effect comes from comets and asteroids, forming what astronomers call "zodiacal light" - something you might see as a dim triangle before sunrise on Earth.

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PUNCH's special cameras split this light into different colors, helping track how the Sun's energy flows through our solar system.

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Just two weeks earlier, PUNCH captured something equally strange - an eerie image of the Moon passing in front of the Sun using a built-in light blocker.

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These aren't just pretty pictures - they help scientists understand the solar wind that blasts 272,000 metric tons of material into space every second.

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Why should you care? This solar wind travels at speeds reaching 1.6 million kilometers per hour and can disrupt satellites, power grids, and radio communications on Earth.

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PUNCH works alongside NASA's Parker Solar Probe - while Parker samples the solar wind up close, PUNCH watches how it spreads through space.

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The mission launched March 11, 2025, with full science operations beginning June 9, when it will start taking continuous images of the Sun.

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Want to see more space rainbows? All PUNCH observations will be freely available to the public as part of NASA's commitment to open science.

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