Many coronal loops—ropey strands of plasma that scientists have long thought existed in the Sun's atmosphere—may actually be optical illusions, according to a new paper that challenges prevailing assumptions of what we ...
Astronomy
Mar 2, 2022
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625
On August 12, 2023, NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft passes between the sun and Earth, marking the first Earth flyby of the nearly 17-year-old mission. The visit home brings a special chance for the spacecraft to collaborate with ...
Space Exploration
Aug 11, 2023
2
515
Musical sounds created by longitudinal vibrations within the Sun's atmosphere, have been recorded and accurately studied for the first time by experts at the University of Sheffield, shedding light on the Sun's magnetic atmosphere.
Astronomy
Jun 21, 2010
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0
From afar, the Sun appears blank and featureless in visible light. But through a solar telescope in different wavelength, it is revealed to be much, much more.
Astronomy
Jun 16, 2022
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153
The Sun's corona, invisible to the human eye except when it appears briefly as a fiery halo of plasma during a solar eclipse, remains a puzzle even to scientists who study it closely. Located 1,300 miles from the star's surface, ...
Space Exploration
May 8, 2018
15
242
For the first time, NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) has observed the merging of multimillion-degree X-ray spots on the surface of a magnetar, a supermagnetized stellar core no larger than a city.
Astronomy
Mar 8, 2022
5
624
(Phys.org) -- The first images of an upward surge of the Sun's gases into quiescent coronal loops have been identified by an international team of scientists. The discovery is one more step towards understanding the origins ...
Astronomy
Jul 1, 2012
3
0
(Phys.org) —Movies of giant loops projecting from the surface of the Sun are giving new insights into the complex mechanisms that drive solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). These eruptions release vast energy ...
Space Exploration
Jul 2, 2013
26
0
Our sun actively produces solar flares that can impact Earth, with the strongest flares having the capacity to cause blackouts and disrupt communications—potentially on a global scale. While solar flares can be powerful, ...
Astronomy
Dec 6, 2023
0
85
Caltech applied physicists have experimentally simulated the sun's magnetic fields to create a realistic coronal loop in a lab.
Space Exploration
Nov 7, 2016
28
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