Eugene Newman Parker was born June 10, 1927 in Houghton MI and is known for his discovery of solar winds. Solar wind is made of plasma and releases stream of particles that flow from the sun as fast as 900 km/s and at temperatures close to 1 million degrees Celsius. Educated at Michigan State University and California Institute of Technology, Parker went on to hold positions in the physics, astronomy and astrophysicist departments and the Enrico Fermi institutes. His work has greatly impacted our understanding of solar winds, solar corona, and magnetic fields of Earth and Sun and their electromagnetic interactions shown in his theory named "Parker's Limit". Parker received the Bruce Medal in 1997- an award given every year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for outstanding lifetime contributions to astronomy. In addition, Parker has received a multitude of other various awards from the Astronomical Society, Geophysical Union, National Science Board, and many other organizations recognizing his outstanding achievements in astronomy; Parker even has a Minor Planet named after him: #11756 Geneparker. Parker is still alive and can be found studying at the University of Chicago in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
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