Related topics: earth · sun · solar flares

Motions in the sun reveal inner workings of sunspot cycle

The sun's magnetic activity follows an 11-year cycle. Over the course of a solar cycle, the sun's magnetic activity comes and goes. During solar maximum, large sunspots and active regions appear on the sun's surface. Spectacular ...

Slow 'hot electrons' could improve solar cell efficiency

Photons with energy higher than the band gap of the semiconductor absorbing them give rise to what are known as hot electrons. The extra energy in respect to the band gap is lost very fast, as it is converted into heat and ...

How can you see the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights have fascinated human beings for millennia. In fact, their existence has informed the mythology of many cultures, including the Inuit, Northern Cree, and ancient Norse. They were also a source of intense ...

Understanding the magnetic sun

The surface of the sun writhes and dances. Far from the still, whitish-yellow disk it appears to be from the ground, the sun sports twisting, towering loops and swirling cyclones that reach into the solar upper atmosphere, ...

Hinode, IRIS, and ATERUI cooperate on 70 year old solar mystery

Solar physicists have captured the first direct observational signatures of resonant absorption, thought to play an important role in solving the "coronal heating problem" which has defied explanation for over 70 years.

Next solar maximum may be safest time for manned missions to Mars

Humans have long dreamed of traveling to Mars, and several nations and private organizations are developing plans for crewed Mars missions in the coming decades. But a recent study looking at the risks for astronauts going ...

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