About the Cover

No spacecraft has traveled closer to the Sun than NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. It is the fastest object ever built and will reach an orbit within 10 solar radii of the Sun by December 2024. On page 28 , Nour E. Raouafi, the mission’s project scientist, presents early findings about the Sun’s coronal magnetic field, the solar wind, and energetic particles from solar activity. (Artist rendering courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ben Smith.)