Sun

In a new series we'll be profiling space probes tasked with pushing the boundaries of science. This week: a spacecraft built to "touch the Sun".

When scientists need to learn about something, recreating it in the lab is often one of the best ways – and now that even applies to the Sun itself. Physicists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have built a mini-Sun in the lab, and used it to probe the secrets of the real thing.

Hypothetical “chameleon” particles could be behind dark energy, and physicists at CERN have been searching for these particles streaming from the Sun. Now, the team has reported the first results of their search.

Mission plans for SULIS, a solar project designed to answer fundamental questions about the physics of solar storms, have been revealed. Using a cluster of small, formation-flying satellites known as CubeSats, SULIS will directly measuring the magnetic field of the Sun's corona for the first time.

Based on a new study, NASA has announced that the Sun is moving into an 11-year period of minimal sunspot activity, which means that the chances of massive solar flares spewing out radiation that could be a deadly hazard to astronauts and spacecraft are much lower.

Meteorites can tell us stories of ancient stars and long-lost planets. One of these stories has now been uncovered in a piece of space rock retrieved from Antarctica, containing grains from a stellar explosion that predates the Sun.

It might be hard to believed that a phenomenon as eye-catching as aurora could go undocumented, but in 2016 a new type of sky light was discovered, and given the strange name of STEVE. Exactly how the phenomenon worked was unknown, but a new study has now found some answers.

Astronomers have discovered a rare superflare more powerful than anything observed on our Sun in modern times, erupting from a small, cold star roughly the size of the planet Jupiter.

A new study indicates that the Sun's magnetic field is 10 times more powerful than previously thought. By analyzing a solar flare using the Swedish Solar Telescope David Kuridze was able to determine that the magnetic field is an order of magnitude greater than measured by Earthbound instruments.

After coming within a record 15 million miles (24 million km) of the Sun's surface on November 5, 2018. NASA's Parker Solar Probe has completed its first orbit and is heading back for another fiery close encounter.

The Sun is setting on 2018, and with so many eyes on (and in) the skies it’s been a stellar year for space photography. From mesmerizing nebulae to historic firsts to stunning views of Earth and other planets, New Atlas rounds up some of the best space photos of the year.

Voyager 2 spacecraft may have finally passed into interstellar space according to a new NASA announcement. At a distance of a little over 11 billion miles from Earth, the probe is now thought to have slipped out of the protective bubble of particles and magnetic fields emanating from our star.