Solar activity as a research area focuses on the study of time-varying phenomena originating from the Sun’s magnetic field, including sunspots, flares, coronal mass ejections, solar wind variability, and associated irradiance changes. It integrates solar physics, plasma astrophysics, and space weather science to understand magnetic field generation via the solar dynamo, energy storage and release in the corona, and particle acceleration processes. This field employs multi-wavelength observations, in situ spacecraft measurements, and magnetohydrodynamic modeling to quantify solar variability and its coupling to the heliosphere, planetary magnetospheres, and upper atmospheres, with implications for technological systems and long-term space climate.
Scientists are working to understand how magnetic currents from the sun spread beneath Earth's crust when the northern lights dance across the sky. Their goal is to tame its "dark twin" and prevent damage to our power grid.
Planetary Sciences
Mar 27, 2026
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What happens when a solar superstorm hits Mars? Thanks to the European Space Agency's Mars orbiters, we now know: glitching spacecraft and a supercharged upper atmosphere.
Astronomy
Mar 5, 2026
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59
Scientists have analyzed more than 40 years of astronomical data to uncover evidence that the sun's internal structure subtly changes from one solar cycle minimum to the next. Publishing their findings in Monthly Notices ...
Astronomy
Mar 3, 2026
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92
A team of scientists from around the world has created the first system that can predict when and where extremely powerful solar storms, called superflares, are most likely to happen. These storms can disrupt power grids, ...
Astronomy
Feb 24, 2026
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This Feb. 4, 2026, image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captures a strong solar flare erupting from the star. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy that can, along with other types of solar eruptions, impact ...
Astronomy
Feb 9, 2026
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56
For the first time, scientists have used satellite data to create a 3D map of the sun's interior magnetic field, the fundamental driver of solar activity. The research, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, should ...
Research conducted by an international team of astronomers from Southwest Research Institute, Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences in India and the Max Planck Institute in Germany could help predict upcoming ...
Astronomy
Jan 20, 2026
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485
In May 2024, the strongest solar storm in twenty years raged. An international team led by ETH Zurich observed it. Their findings are now helping to improve space weather forecasts.
Astronomy
Jan 5, 2026
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105
Astronomers have produced the first continuous, two-dimensional maps of the outer edge of the sun's atmosphere, a shifting, frothy boundary that marks where solar winds escape the sun's magnetic grasp. By combining the maps ...
Astronomy
Dec 11, 2025
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69
A research team from the Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has detailed the physical characteristics of chromospheric jets in and around a sunspot, using high-resolution observations from the New ...
Astronomy
Nov 12, 2025
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