Space Weather

See our amazing collection of stories and features about the increasingly important topic of space weather (aka solar storms).

Related Topics: Solar Eclipse, Aurora Borealis 

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Artist's illustration of the young star EK Draconis unleashing a coronal mass ejection as two planets orbit.

Astronomers spy record-breaking eruption on young sunlike star

By Charles Q. Choi published

Astronomers may have, for the first time, detected a sunlike star erupting with a giant outburst 10 times larger than anything similar ever seen from our sun.

The northern lights seen over a village near the Russian Arctic on Oct. 31, 2021.

'Cannibal CME' sun storm marks rise of new solar cycle in space weather

By Meghan Bartels last updated

The sun is waking up — and making sure we all know it.

An image shows a coronal mass ejection bursting off the sun on Nov. 2, 2021.

Solar storm from 'cannibal' sun eruption may impact power grid and bring auroras as far south as Pennsylvania

By Meghan Bartels published

A powerful solar storm could interfere with power grids, satellites and radio signals — although it might also have sent the beautiful northern lights incredibly far south.

An image shows a coronal mass ejection bursting off the sun on Nov. 2, 2021.

Sun outburst goes 'cannibal' as fast new blob overtakes a slower one

By Meghan Bartels last updated

It's been a busy few days for our sun, which has produced three of the outbursts that scientists call coronal mass ejections since Monday (Nov. 1).

The northern lights are seen over Teriberka, Russia, a village with the population of about 1,000 people, located some 120 km away from the city of Murmansk on the Russian Arctic coast on Oct. 30, 2021.

Halloween northern lights from huge solar flare thrill skywatchers

By Tariq Malik last updated

A huge solar flare from the sun has spawned a Halloween northern lights show that has stargazers over the moon.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this stunning image, a still from a video, of a powerful X1 flare erupting from the sun on Oct. 28, 2021.

Watch the sun fire off huge solar flares in this mesmerizing NASA video

By Tariq Malik published

A new NASA video shows stunning views of solar flares from the sun just before Halloween.

An X1-class solar flare erupts from an Earth-facing sunspot on the sun on Oct. 28, 2021 in this image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Major solar flare won't delay SpaceX Crew-3 astronaut launch on Halloween, NASA says

By Amy Thompson published

NASA officials say that the agency's Halloween astronaut launch will not be affected by a massive solar flare that's scheduled to hit Earth this weekend.

A powerful X1-class solar flare erupts from an active sunspot in the center of the sun on Oct. 28, 2021 in this image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Huge solar flare could supercharge northern lights on Halloween

By Tariq Malik published

A major solar flare erupted from the sun on Thursday (Oct. 28) in the strongest storm yet of our star's current weather cycle.

An X1-class solar flare erupts from an Earth-facing sunspot on the sun on Oct. 28, 2021 in this image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Sun fires off major solar flare from Earth-facing sunspot

By Tariq Malik last updated

A major solar flare erupted from the sun on Thursday (Oct. 28) in the strongest storm yet of our star's current weather cycle.

This image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows an active solar region (visible at top-middle left) on the left limb of the sun as it rotated into view on Oct. 26, 2021.

A new sunspot is firing off solar eruptions and here's what it looks like on video

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Our otherwise quiet sun had a stormy five-hour fiesta during the early hours of Tuesday (Oct. 26).

aurora

Astronauts capture stunning aurora from International Space Station

By Elizabeth Howell published

The sky show took place over Antarctica and New Zealand.

The CUAVA-1 satellite departs from the International Space Station.

Forecasting space weather is hard. A new Australian satellite may help make it easier

By Brett Carter, Iver Cairns published

The new satellite is the first designed and built by the Australian Research Council Training Centre for Cubesats, UAVs, and their Applications (or CUAVA for short).

A solar storm, or coronal mass ejection (CME), erupts from the sun in August 2012.

An 'Internet apocalypse' could ride to Earth with the next solar storm, new research warns

By Brandon Specktor last updated

A catastrophic solar storm could take huge sections of the Earth offline for weeks or months, a new research paper warns.

cires sun's middle corona

Scientists' 1st-ever view of sun's middle corona could sharpen space weather forecasts

By Samantha Mathewson last updated

Recent telescope views shed new light on the sun's elusive middle corona that could prove beneficial to space weather forecasts.

The European/Japanese spacecraft BepiColombo has taken a selfie with Venus during its close flyby at the planet in August 2021.

BepiColombo spacecraft records the sound of solar wind at Venus

By Tereza Pultarova published

The Mercury-bound BepiColombo spacecraft recorded the sound of the solar wind at Venus as it flew just 340 miles above the planet during a maneuver designed to adjust its path.

A dune-like aurora borealis.

Space weather is difficult to predict — with only an hour to prevent disasters on Earth

By Martin Gerard Connors published

Recent developments at the forefront of astronomy allow us to observe that planets orbiting other stars have weather.

The sun erupts with a powerful X1.5-class solar flare on July 3, 2021, the most powerful in 4 years, in this view from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The flare appears at the top right of the view.

Sun erupts with biggest solar flare in 4 years in early Fourth of July fireworks (video)

By Tariq Malik published

The sun erupted with a surprise solar flare on Saturday (July 3), the largest since 2017, in an early explosion of cosmic fireworks ahead of the Fourth of July.

An image compiles views of a coronal mass ejection from three different instruments on the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. The footage was captured Feb. 12 and Feb. 13, 2021.

Solar Orbiter captures its 1st video of eruption on the sun

By Meghan Bartels last updated

A sun-studying spacecraft nabbed its first footage of a solar outburst before its science mission has officially begun.

mars dust storm

7 solar system worlds where the weather is crazy

By Jonathan O'Callaghan, Daisy Dobrijevic, How It Works magazine published

What's the weather like on other worlds? Expect methane rain, global haboobs and a 10,000-mile-wide hurricane.

The evolution of a solar campfire and its magnetic field as generated by a computer simulation.

Mysterious heating of sun's corona powered by solar 'campfires,' study suggests

By Tereza Pultarova last updated

The mysterious heating of the sun’s corona might be powered by miniature solar flares dubbed 'campfires,' discovered by the European-US Solar Orbiter mission last year, a new study suggests.