June 7, 2019 NASA's Parker solar probe may solve 500-year-old Sun mystery NASA's Parker Solar Probe is on its way to another close encounter with the sun, where investigators hope the spacecraft will solve a long-standing solar mystery: Why is the sun's outer atmosphere millions of degrees hot (Fahrenheit or Celsius), while the surface is only about 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit (3,300 degrees Celsius)?
April 23, 2019 It rains on the Sun (just not the way you think) Astronomers have detected "plasma rain" pouring down over the solar surface, which may explain why the sun's outer atmosphere is so much hotter than the star's surface.
April 15, 2019 Fountains of plasma rain might explain one of the biggest mysteries of the Sun Today's weather forecast on the sun calls for a high of 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (5,500 degrees Celsius), constant supersonic wind , mysterious eruptions of giant lava-lamp-blobs and, oh yes, light rain.
April 10, 2019 The Sun is spitting out 'lava lamp blobs' 500 times the size of Earth The sun's corona constantly breathes wispy strings of hot, charged particles into space — a phenomenon we call the solar wind .
April 9, 2019 Jupiter's poles shown heating up in incredible NASA images NASA's JPL has released images of the gas giant showing the impact that solar winds are having on the planet's poles, which are causing a hotter atmosphere than previously thought.
April 3, 2019 Sun's magnetic field is stronger than we thought Studies of a solar flare revealed something unexpected about the sun: its magnetic field is even stronger than scientists predicted.
March 12, 2019 Ice samples reveal a massive Sun storm hit Earth in ancient times...and it could happen again A gigantic solar storm hit Earth about 2,600 years ago, one about 10 times stronger than any solar storm recorded in the modern day, a new study finds.
March 7, 2019 The Moon gets 'sunburned,' NASA says If you've ever been mad at the Sun for getting a sunburn, you're in good company — the Moon gets them too.
February 15, 2019 Solar flare '10 billion times more powerful' than Earth's Sun blasted out of Orion's sword In November 2016, astronomers watched a young star some 1,500 light-years away from Earth belch out an explosion of plasma and radiation that was roughly 10 billion times more powerful than any flare ever seen leaving Earth's sun. This sudden stellar eruption may be the most luminous known flare ever released by a young star — and it could help scientists better understand the still-murky process of star formation.
January 10, 2019 The Sun will become a giant crystal ball when it dies The Sun produces 3.86 x 10^26 watts of energy, or 2.86 with 24 zeros at the end, an impossibly large number. But when the Sun dies, it will turn into an enormous crystal ball, according to a new study.
