A star of about eight percent the Sun's mass has been caught emitting an enormous 'super flare' of X-rays—a dramatic high-energy eruption that poses a fundamental problem for astronomers, who did not think it possible on ...
Astronomy
Feb 21, 2020
0
719
Toward the end of 2017, a massive new region of magnetic field erupted on the Sun's surface next to an existing sunspot. The powerful collision of magnetic energy produced a series of potent solar flares, causing turbulent ...
Space Exploration
Jan 17, 2020
8
910
The discovery of terrestrial exoplanets, planets that orbit stars outside the solar system, has been one of the most significant developments in modern astronomy. Several exoplanets lie in the "habitable zones" of stars, ...
Astronomy
Dec 15, 2019
18
617
Computers can learn to find solar flares and other events in vast streams of solar images and help NOAA forecasters issue timely alerts, according to a new study. The machine-learning technique, developed by scientists at ...
Space Exploration
Dec 3, 2019
5
236
The hot outer layer of the sun, the corona, has a temperature of over a million degrees Kelvin, much more than the surface temperature of the Sun which is only about 5500 degrees Kelvin. Moreover, the corona is very active ...
Astronomy
Sep 30, 2019
39
146
First all appears quiet. Suddenly, a bright flash lights up the telescope. In an instant, jets of super-heated plasma bloom against the blackness of space.
Space Exploration
Sep 24, 2019
8
52
Proxima Centauri is a cool red dwarf with about one-eighth of the sun's mass. Although it is the closest star to the sun, located just 4.2 light-years from the solar system in the triple star system of alpha Centauri, it ...
Astronomy
Sep 6, 2019
0
163
Astronomers have uncovered a new way of searching for life in the cosmos. Harsh ultraviolet radiation flares from red suns, once thought to destroy surface life on planets, might help uncover hidden biospheres. Their radiation ...
Astronomy
Aug 13, 2019
0
648
High-energy shock waves driven by solar flares and coronal mass ejections of plasma from the sun erupt throughout the solar system, unleashing magnetic space storms that can damage satellites, disrupt cell phone service and ...
Plasma Physics
Jul 30, 2019
0
474
Researchers at CU Boulder have discovered hints that humanity's favorite star may have a dual personality, with intriguing discrepancies in its magnetic fields that could hold clues to the sun's own "internal clock."
Astronomy
Jun 12, 2019
6
876
