© 2019 New Atlas

Sun

  • The artificial Sun, known as the Big Red Ball
    Space
    Lab-made "Mini-Sun" sheds light on the real thing
    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.
  • Dark energy is one theory to explain the accelerating expansion of the universe, and a new CERN study has looked for a candidate particle for the force
    Physics
    Solar Chameleons: CERN's search for dark energy particles from the Sun
    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.
  • With three viewpoints SULIS will reconstruct the 3D properties of coronal mass ejections from the Sun that can cause problems on Earth
    Space
    Mission plans for SULIS solar storms project revealed
    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.
  • The ability to forecast solar flares is increasingly important as NASA prepares to send humans to the Moon under the Artemis program
    Space
    NASA forecasts fair weather for astronauts over the next decade
    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.
  • An illustration of a nova, which is believed to be responsible for the presolar grain LAP-149
    Space
    Grain of dust found from dead star that predates the Sun
    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.
  • STEVE is made up of a pinkish ribbon and green streaks sometimes described as a "picket fence"
    Physics
    Scientists identify source of strange glow in the sky
    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.
  • Artist's impression of a superflare on an L dwarf star
    Space
    Energetic superflare with the power of 80 billion megatonnes of TNT erupts from tiny star
    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.
  • The Sun's magnetic field controls many phenomena, such as this solar flare seen by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory
    Space
    The Sun's magnetic field might be 10 times stronger than we thought
    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.
  • Artist's concept of the Parker Solar Probe
    Space
    Parker Solar Probe plunges back towards the Sun
    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 Lagoon Nebula, a stellar nursery about 4,000 light-years from Earth, captured in visible light by Hubble in February 2018
    Space
    The year's most spectacular space photos
    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.
  • NASA graphic displaying the positions of the Voyager spacecraft relative to our solar system, and the heliosphere
    Space
    Voyager 2 breaks through to interstellar space
    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.
  • Our Sun was born in a group of thousands of other stars, and now astronomers have identified the closest relative ever found
    Space
    The Sun's "identical twin" may have been discovered
    Our Sun may live a pretty lonesome life nowadays, but when it was born it was the middle child in a family of thousands. Now astronomers in Portugal have found not just a solar sibling but a “twin,” more or less identical to the Sun, meaning it’s a great place to look for extraterrestrial life.
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