The solar corona as a research area focuses on the physical processes governing the Sun’s outer atmosphere, characterized by low densities, high temperatures (∼10⁶ K), and complex magnetic structures. It integrates observational solar physics, plasma astrophysics, and magnetohydrodynamics to study coronal heating, magnetic reconnection, wave propagation, flares, and coronal mass ejections. Research emphasizes multi-wavelength diagnostics (EUV, X-ray, radio), spectropolarimetry, and numerical modeling to infer coronal magnetic fields, energy transport, and particle acceleration. This domain is central to understanding space weather, heliospheric conditions, and the coupling between the photosphere, chromosphere, and interplanetary medium.
A Southwest Research Institute-led study found that protons and heavy ions react differently to solar magnetic reconnection events, revealing a more complex magnetic engine powering the solar wind. Magnetic reconnection converts ...
Astronomy
18 hours ago
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The European Space Agency announced Thursday it has re-established communication with a spacecraft that is part of its Proba-3 mission, after losing contact with the satellite a month ago.
Space Exploration
Mar 19, 2026
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On April 8, 2024, people across the world witnessed a solar eclipse, a relatively rare event in which the moon occults (blocks out) light from the sun. To capture this event, volunteers at 143 observatories across the U.S. ...
Space Exploration
Mar 5, 2026
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Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi have uncovered new clues about how energy moves through the sun's outer atmosphere, using one of nature's rarest events as their window: total solar eclipses. Drawing on more than ...
Astronomy
Feb 18, 2026
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Using data collected by NASA's Parker Solar Probe during its closest approach to the sun, a University of Arizona-led research team has measured the dynamics and ever-changing "shell" of hot gas from where the solar wind ...
Space Exploration
Jan 30, 2026
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When a solar storm strikes Earth, it can disrupt technology that's vital for our daily lives. Solar storms occur when magnetic fields and electrically charged particles collide with Earth's magnetic field. This type of event ...
Space Exploration
Jan 26, 2026
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When the six tiny spacecraft of NASA's SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) mission settle into their orbits high above Earth after launching later this year, they'll function as one giant radio dish to track ...
Astronomy
Jan 20, 2026
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The sun's inner corona, the hottest part of our star's atmosphere, appears faint yellow in a time-lapse made from images taken by the ASPIICS coronagraph aboard Proba-3.
Planetary Sciences
Jan 19, 2026
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After less than a year in orbit, the Southwest Research Institute-built PUNCH spacecraft have made major accomplishments, imaging the sun in context while tracking comets and enormous space weather events as they traveled ...
Astronomy
Dec 16, 2025
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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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