A spacecraft makes its closest approach to the Sun to date.

The Parker Solar Probe is plunging into our star's outer atmosphere,  experiencing brutal temperatures and extreme  radiation.
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It was out of communication for several days during  the fiery flight, and scientists  were waiting for a signal, expected on  December 27, to see if it  had survived.
The hope is  that the probe  can help us better understand how the Sun  works.
Probe makes historic pass through Sun's  atmosphere
NASA embarks on mission to Sun
Dr Nicola Fox,  NASA's chief scientist, told BBC News: "For centuries, people have studied the Sun, but you don't  really experience the atmosphere of a place until you  see it. You haven't visited it.
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"And so we can't really experience the atmosphere of our star unless we  pass through  it."
NASA's image of  the Sun from  NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory NASA
The spacecraft will  fly into the Sun's outer  atmosphere
The Parker Solar Probe  was launched in 2018, heading  towards the centre of our solar  system. It has already  passed the Sun 21 times, getting ever  closer, but  its Christmas Eve visit  breaks records.
At its  closest, the probe is  6.2 million  kilometers from  the surface of our  star.
That doesn't seem close, but  NASA's Nicola Fox puts  things into perspective:  "We're 150 million  kilometers from the Sun, so if  you put the Sun and Earth one  meter apart,  the Parker Solar Probe is four  centimeters from the Sun  – so  it's closed."
The probe will have to  withstand temperatures of  1400°C and radiation that could  damage the  electronics on board.
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It's protected by a  11.5cm-thick carbon composite shield, but the  craft's tactic is to get in and out  quickly.
In fact,  it's travelling faster than any  man-made object, at  430,000mph, the equivalent of flying from London to New York in  under 30  seconds. PA Media Aurora  Borealis in Howick, Northumberland PA Media
Dazzling cosmic  phenomena on Earth are caused by the solar wind
So why go to all this  trouble to  'touch' the  Sun?
Scientists hope that  by passing through our star's outer atmosphere - its corona -  the spacecraft will solve a  long-standing mystery.
"The corona is really, really hot, and we have no idea why,"  says Dr Jenifer Millard, an astronomer at Fifth Star  Laboratories in  Wales.
"The surface of the  sun is about  6,000°C, but the corona,  that thin outer atmosphere you can see during solar eclipses,  is millions of degrees - and  that's further away from the  sun. So how  does this atmosphere  get hotter?"
The mission  is also  expected to help scientists better understand  the solar wind - the constant stream of charged particles  that burst out  of the  corona. When these particles interact with Earth's magnetic  field, the sky lights up  in dazzling  auroras.
But so-called space weather can  also cause  problems, disrupting power grids, electronics and communication  systems.
"Understanding the Sun, its activity, space weather, the solar wind, is so important to our  daily lives on Earth," says  Dr. Millard.
NASA image of  a solar flare from  NASA's Solar Dynamics  Observatory
Scientists hope the probe will help us solve some solar  mysteries
NASA scientists  will have to wait  anxiously over  the Christmas  period while the spacecraft is out of  contact with  Earth.
Nicola Fox says that  once a signal is  transmitted home, the team will  send them a green heart to let  them know  that the probe is  in order. She admits  she's nervous about the  valiant effort, but she has faith in the  investigation.
"I have to worry about the spacecraft. But we really designed it to withstand all these brutal conditions. It's a  very, very durable spacecraft."

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