New Atlas

Space Audio available

Voyager 2 shows first signs of entering interstellar space

Michael Irving October 7, 2018

After 40 years of zipping through the solar system, Voyager 2 appears to be close to leaving the neighborhood. The probe’s instruments have begun picking up radiation signals that suggest it is breaking out of the Sun’s protective bubble, and will soon join its sibling in interstellar space.

An artist's rendering of Voyager 1 as it passed into interstellar space – the latest readings ...

Energy

Interview: Chasing sunlight with the "Godfather of Solar"

Nick Lavars October 6, 2018

We sat down with the CIO of Array Technologies Ron Corio in Melbourne to discuss the latest innovations in the realm of solar tracking, and what the future may hold for this increasingly solar as a form of renewable energy.

Space Audio available

NASA's Solar Parker Probe snaps first image on its way to "touch the Sun"

Nick Lavars September 19, 2018

Following a successful launch last month that set it on a path to rendezvous with the Sun, NASA’s Solar Parker Probe has fired up its scientific instruments for the first time, demonstrating that all is in working order as it hurtles away from Earth.

A rendering of NASA's Solar Parker Probe

Space Audio available

World-first solar probe en route to "touch the Sun"

Nick Lavars August 12, 2018

The origin’s of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission can be traced back to a paper published 60 years ago by astrophysicist Eugene Parker, describing high speed matter emanating from the center of our solar system. Today the spacecraft carrying his name lifted off and is now en route to the Sun.

The Solar Parker Probe blasts off from Cape Canaveral

Space

Radio blackouts caused by intense solar storms complicated 2017 hurricane relief efforts

Anthony Wood July 31, 2018

According to a newly published paper, powerful solar storms were responsible for communication outages in 2017, as professionals and volunteers alike worked to provide emergency aid in the wake of the devastation caused by hurricanes Irma, Katia and Jose.

The September 10 2017 solar flare seen here erupting from the Sun's surface by NASA's Solar ...

Space

Blue crystals in meteorites reveal the Sun's rowdy younger years

Michael Irving July 30, 2018

The Sun was far more active in its early years, but we only really know this from studying other similar stars. Now, researchers have found the fingerprints of this active young Sun in tiny, bright blue crystals preserved in meteorites from a collection at Chicago’s Field Museum.

Studying blue hibonite crystals (inset) has helped researchers get a better understanding of the Sun's early ...

Space

NASA fixes heat shield to Sun-skimming solar probe ahead of August launch

Nick Lavars July 9, 2018

Next month, NASA is set to launch a pioneering new mission. The Solar Parker Probe will will become the spacecraft to most closely orbit our Sun, all things going to plan. And a pretty important part of that plan is the advanced heat shield now installed by NASA engineers.

NASA engineers attach the heat shield to the Solar Parker Probe

Space

NASA sets out to examine Solar System's protective bubble

Nick Lavars June 3, 2018

When the solar winds emanating from our Sun meet interstellar space, they collide with material from beyond and limit the amount of harmful particles that come back the other way. NASA has ticked off a new mission to probe this protective bubble known as the heliosphere.

As the solar wind flows from the sun, it creates a protective bubble in space known ...

Health & Wellbeing

Color-changing SensoGlow may allow for better UV-monitoring

Ben Coxworth May 23, 2018

While there already are materials that change color in response to UV exposure, those color-changes involve reorganization of the material's molecular structure, so it can only be used a few times. A new material known as SensoGlow, however, can be used to detect and measure UVs over and over.

The material could be used in sensors that provide users with the current UV index

Space

New research confirms spectacular death for our Sun

James Holloway May 8, 2018

Our Sun is too small to explode in a supernova, but new findings suggest that our nearby star is in for a dramatic demise, creating a vast ring of gas and dust called a planetary nebula. Though that was always a leading theory, there’s some small consolation for those that thought differently…

The Helix Nebula – one of the closest planetary nebulae to Earth