About 17 years ago, J. Martin Laming, an astrophysicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, theorized why the chemical composition of the Sun's tenuous outermost layer differs from that lower down. His theory has recently ...
Astronomy
Mar 2, 2021
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14710
Scientists at the University of New Hampshire have unlocked one of the mysteries of how particles from flares on the sun accumulate at early stages in the energization of hazardous radiation that is harmful to astronauts, ...
Space Exploration
Feb 3, 2020
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30
Outbursts of energetic particles that hurtle out from the sun and can disrupt space communications may be even more varied and numerous than previously thought, according to results from the closest-ever flyby of the sun.
Space Exploration
Dec 4, 2019
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76
In a small, square room walled by four feet of concrete, the air smells as if a lightning storm just passed through—crisp and acrid, like cleaning supplies. Outside, that's the smell of lightning ripping apart oxygen in ...
Space Exploration
Jun 11, 2019
14
158
When sea-faring nations began to explore new regions of the world, one of their biggest concerns in making the journey safely was how to cope with weather. They could harness the wind for power. They could rely on the Sun ...
Space Exploration
Mar 28, 2019
0
39
Solar flares shouldn't produce X-rays, but they do. Why? The one-size-fits-all approach to electron collisions misses a lucky few that lead to an intense X-ray burst. Scientists thought there were too many electron-scattering ...
Plasma Physics
Feb 19, 2019
0
30
In the next decade, NASA aims to launch humankind toward the moon and on to Mars—a monumental step in crewed space travel. Such a journey is filled with challenges and perils, not unlike those faced by the first explorers ...
Space Exploration
Dec 3, 2018
4
144
At the center of the sun is a raging nuclear inferno that reaches temperatures well into the millions of degrees. The surface is cool by comparison, at 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Space Exploration
Sep 27, 2018
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23
Early on an August morning, the sky near Cape Canaveral, Florida, will light up with the launch of Parker Solar Probe. No earlier than Aug. 6, 2018, a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy will thunder to space carrying the ...
Space Exploration
Jul 20, 2018
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703
Princeton astrophysicist David McComas will be the principal investigator for a science mission to sample, analyze and map particles streaming to Earth from the sun and from the edges of interstellar space. He is presenting ...
Space Exploration
Jul 18, 2018
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