NASA missions find 'jetlets' could power the solar wind

Scientists with NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission have uncovered significant new clues about the origins of the solar wind—a continual stream of charged particles released from the Sun that fills the solar system.

Sun releases strong solar flare

The sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 1:50 p.m. EST on Jan. 9, 2023. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured imagery of the event.

Video: 133 days on the sun

This video chronicles solar activity from Aug. 12 to Dec. 22, 2022, as captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). From its orbit in space around Earth, SDO has steadily imaged the sun in 4K x 4K resolution for nearly ...

Decoding mega magnetic explosions outside the solar system

Neutron stars and black holes may be stellar corpses, but they are among the most active celestial objects. They produce some of the highest-energy radiation ever observed, and scientists have long puzzled over the physics ...

How magnetic waves interact with Earth's bubble

Shock waves occur in air when a plane travels faster than the speed of sound and also occur in plasma (a fourth state of matter that makes up 99% of the visible universe) in space. Shock waves are believed to accelerate particles ...

Small solar flares in large laser bodies

Using 12 high-powered lasers, researchers recreated small solar flares in order to study the mechanisms behind a fundamental astronomical phenomenon known as a magnetic reconnection.

'Black widow' PSR J1544+4937 investigated in detail

Indian astronomers have performed long-term radio observations of a "black widow" millisecond pulsar known as PSR J1544+4937. Results of the observational campaign, published November 25 on the arXiv pre-print server, shed ...

Should we build a nature reserve on Mars?

There are 8 billion of us now. The UN says when the population peaks around the year 2100, there'll be 11 billion human souls. Our population growth is colliding with the natural world on a greater scale than ever, and we're ...

Can we protect Earth from space weather?

In early September 1859, the Northern Lights could suddenly be seen as far south as the Caribbean. The cause was a geomagnetic solar storm—specifically a coronal mass ejection, now dubbed the Carrington Event, after the ...

page 9 from 40