Moon Photobombs NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory’s View of the Sun
On October 16, 2020, the Moon photobombed NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory’s view of the Sun. This apparent crossing in space, called a lunar transit, lasted…
Sun
A New Look at Sunspots is Helping NASA Understand Life Around Other Stars
NASA’s extensive fleet of spacecraft allows scientists to study the Sun extremely close-up – one of the agency’s spacecraft is even on its way…
First Data From Solar Orbiter Released to the Public
ESA has released its first Solar Orbiter data to the scientific community and the wider public. The instruments contributing to this data release come from…
Global Maps of the Solar Corona Magnetic Field Created for the First Time
The Sun is a magnetized star. Its magnetic field is essentially three dimensional and it occupies all layers of the solar atmosphere. However, routine measurements…
Scientists Analyze Sunquakes: Can Ripples on the Sun Help Predict Solar Flares?
Scientists analyze sunquakes to pinpoint flare energy source, perhaps predict flare severity. Solar flares are violent explosions on the sun that fling out high-energy charged…
NASA IRIS Reports the First Ever Clear Images of Nanojets on the Sun
NASA’s IRIS Spots Nanojets: Shining Light On Heating the Solar Corona In a paper published today (September 21, 2020) in Nature Astronomy, researchers report the…
Solar Cycle 25 Has Begun. Experts From NASA and NOAA Explain What It Means
Solar Cycle 25 has begun. During a media event on Tuesday, experts from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) discussed their analysis…
How NASA & Scientists Around the World Track the Solar Cycle
Understanding the Sun’s behavior is an important part of life in our solar system. Scientists use several indicators to track solar cycle progress. Credit: NASA’s…
Improved Solar Storm Forecasts for Earth With Help From the Public
New CME forecasting method shows value of including imaging cameras on future NASA missions. Solar storm analysis carried out by an army of citizen scientists…
Global Magnetic Field of the Solar Corona Mapped for the First Time
An international team led by Professor Tian Hui from Peking University has recently measured the global magnetic field of the solar corona for the first…
A Multi-Decade Mystery Settled: Presence of Resonating Cavities Above Sunspots Has Been Confirmed
An international team of researchers, led by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has confirmed the existence of resonant cavities above sunspots. These results,…
Awe-Inspiring Magnetic Details of the Sun Revealed by Europe’s Largest Solar Telescope
GREGOR, the largest solar telescope in Europe, which is operated by a German consortium and located on Teide Observatory, Spain, has obtained unprecedented images of…
Twin Suns: Our Sun May Have Started Its Life with a Binary Companion
A new theory published recently in The Astrophysical Journal Letters by scientists from Harvard University suggests that the Sun may once have had a binary…
First Physics-Based Method for Predicting Large Solar Flares
Solar flares emit sudden, strong bursts of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun’s surface and its atmosphere, and eject plasma and energetic particles into inter-planetary space….
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory Spots Burst of Light and Energy on the Sun: A B-Class Flare
Late on August 16, 2020, the Sun released a burst of light and energy known as a solar flare. This B1-class solar flare – the…
Solar Physicists Measure Global Magnetic Field of the Solar Corona for the First Time – Here’s the Stunning Map
An international team of solar physicists, including academics from Northumbria University, Newcastle, has recently measured the global magnetic field of the outer most layer of…
Helium Structures Found in Sun’s Atmosphere by NASA Sounding Rocket
Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen. But scientists aren’t sure just how much there actually is in the Sun’s…
Data From Solar Dynamics Observatory Helps NASA Predict Big Solar Flares
Using data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, scientists have developed a new model that successfully predicted seven of the Sun’s biggest flares from…