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.
Continue Reading
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.
Continue Reading
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.
Continue Reading
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.
Continue Reading
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.
Continue Reading
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.
Continue Reading
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.
Continue Reading
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.
Continue Reading
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.
Continue Reading
Mission control at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab confirmed receiving the Parker Solar Probe's status beacon on November 7 after it came within 15 million miles (24 million km) of the Sun's surface on November 5.
Continue Reading
See the stories that matter in your inbox every morning