Related topics: earth · nasa · stars · magnetic field · solar system

Protecting power grids from space weather

Activity from the sun, such as solar flares, can cause fluctuations in Earth's geomagnetic field that send electrical currents flowing through power grids. These geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) can cause problems ...

Solar activity likely to peak next year, new study suggests

Researchers at the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India at IISER Kolkata have discovered a new relationship between the sun's magnetic field and its sunspot cycle, that can help predict when the peak in solar activity ...

What would happen to Earth if a rogue star came too close?

Stars are gravitationally fastened to their galaxies and move in concert with their surroundings. But sometimes, something breaks the bond. If a star gets too close to a supermassive black hole, for example, the black hole ...

How sunflowers 'see' the sun: Study describes a novel mechanism

Sunflowers famously turn their faces to follow the sun as it crosses the sky. But how do sunflowers "see" the sun to follow it? New work from plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, published Oct. 31 in PLOS ...

Do red dwarfs or sunlike stars have more Earth-sized worlds?

Earth is our only example of a habitable planet, so it makes sense to search for Earth-size worlds when we're hunting for potentially-habitable exoplanets. When astronomers found seven of them orbiting a red dwarf star in ...

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