Perihelia of Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter

Data as of 2026-10-22

The perihelion of a probe is the point of its orbit closest to the Sun. Here it is measured on the true trajectory of each probe Galaxy follows: the minimum of its distance to the centre of the Sun, read every hour, then every minute and every second around it. The Sun has no solid surface; the altitude shown is the distance to its centre minus the nominal radius Galaxy displays for it.

The closest measured pass is also the fastest: Parker Solar Probe, on September 4, 2026, 6,159,602 km above the nominal radius of the Sun, at 190.88 km/s.

The numbers in this series count the minima of the trajectory Horizons serves, from the first one; they are not necessarily the numbering the missions use.