Sun

The sun is the star at the center of our solar system.

Related Topics: Stars and Galaxies

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Nicola Fox, NASA's new science chief.

NASA selects solar physicist Nicola Fox as its new science chief

By Robert Lea published

NASA has announced that Heliophysics Division leader Nicola Fox will be the agency's new head of science, overseeing more than 100 missions.

The Northern Lights appear in the sky on March 23, 2023 in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada.

Skywatchers enjoy surprise auroras as strongest solar storm in years hits Earth (photos)

By Tereza Pultarova published

A surprise solar storm supercharged auroras across the U.S. and Europe last night (March 23), with sightings of the colorful displays reported from as far south as New Mexico and Arizona.

treeline with green auroras just above and red auroras reaching into the sky. a snowy landscape covers the front

A colossal 'hole' in the sun's atmosphere could supercharge Earth's auroras on March 24

By Elizabeth Howell published

A 'hole' in the sun's upper atmosphere may soon generate another geomagnetic storm here on Earth, creating auroras in places farther from the poles than usual.

This map shows the paths of the annular "ring of fire" solar eclipse of Oct. 14, 2023 and the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse.

This epic NASA map shows where to see US solar eclipses in 2023 and 2024 (photos)

By Robert Lea published

A new NASA eclipse map shows where and when the annular solar eclipse on October 14, 2023, and the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, will be visible.

An artist's concept of NASA's Parker Solar Probe observing the sun.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe makes its 15th close flyby of the sun this St. Patrick's Day

By Robert Lea published

Raise a cold one for the spacecraft as it makes its 15th perihelion today braving blisteringly hot temperatures.

a large explosion emanating from the sun

Sun spews 'dark plasma' into space from its far side

By Samantha Mathewson published

An explosion on the the sun spewed 'dark plasma' into space that resulted in a moderate G2-class geomagnetic storm on Wednesday (March 15).

A time-lapse of the butterfly CME's quickly-unfurling plasma wings.

Stunning plasma-winged 'butterfly' coronal mass ejection erupts from the sun's far side

By Ben Turner published

Astronomers spotted a massive coronal mass ejection (CME) expanding its ethereal wings as it barrelled out of the sun and toward Mercury.

a pyramid of light in the night sky

See the night sky shine with ghostly zodiacal light this month

By Robert Lea published

For the next few weeks in March, the sky to the west is illuminated by a pyramid of ethereal glow after twilight known as the zodiacal light.

Artist's conception of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft next to Earth on the right and the boundary of the heliosphere on the right (represented by a bubble of gas).

NASA's IBEX spacecraft bounces back from glitch to study edge of solar system

By Elizabeth Howell published

NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is back to normal operations after controllers successfully reset its computer March 2, NASA said.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft captured this view of an X2.1 flare erupting from the sun on March 3, 2023.

Sun unleashes powerful X2-class flare (video)

By Mike Wall published

The sun blasted out a superpowerful X2-class flare on Friday afternoon (March 3), and a NASA spacecraft captured footage of the dramatic event.

Artist's conception of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft next to Earth on the right and the boundary of the heliosphere on the right (represented by a bubble of gas).

NASA's IBEX spacecraft not responding to commands after computer glitch during 15-year mission to study interstellar border

By Elizabeth Howell published

NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) reset its flight computer Feb. 18 and has been unresponsive to commands ever since, agency officials said Friday (Feb. 24).

A clip of the X-class flare erupting from the sun on Feb. 17 followed by a 'solar tsunami' that is visible as a faint shockwave in the surrounding region.

Powerful X-class flare spat out a rare 'solar tsunami,' and you can hear it smashing into Earth

By Harry Baker published

The sun recently spat out an X-class solar flare, one of the most powerful it can emit, which triggered a rare shockwave across the sun's surface and caused radio blackouts on Earth.

Mercury crossing in front of the sun's disk as seen by the Solar Orbiter's Extreme Ultraviolet Imager.

Solar Orbiter catches Mercury crossing the sun. Here's the amazing video.

By Robert Lea published

Watch Mercury cross in front of the sun's disk in this video captured by the European Solar Orbiter spacecraft.

A composite image consisting of data captured by NASA's NuSTAR and Solar Dynamics Observatory, and JAXA's Hinode spacecraft.

Hidden lights on the sun could help crack solar atmosphere mystery

By Robert Lea published

NASA's NuSTAR telescope has spotted patches of high-energy X-rays radiation across the sun's surface that could explain why the star's atmosphere is mysteriously hot.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched on August 12, 2018 on a mission to study the sun.

Instrument on NASA's Parker Solar Probe switches off unexpectedly

By Mike Wall published

One of the instruments on NASA's Parker Solar Probe powered down unexpectedly last weekend, but the mission team expects it to come back online soon.

An X2.2-class solar flare erupts from the sun on Feb. 17, 2023.

Sun unleashes massive X2-class solar flare during geomagnetic storm watch (video)

By Tariq Malik published

A massive solar flare erupted from the sun on Friday (Feb. 17) as the Earth was under a geomagnetic storm watch from flares earlier in the week.

The sun's surface is roiling with convection cells.

Physicists mimic gravity inside the sun using sound waves

By Keith Cooper published

The acoustically generated force will help astronomers better understand the sun's photosphere and the causes of space weather.

claw-shaped solar flare bursting from the sun

Sun storm may supercharge auroras for Valentine's Day

By Elizabeth Howell published

Minor or G1-class aurora storms may happen overnight in high-latitude areas due to a swarm of particles associated with a big solar outburst on Saturday (Feb. 11).

An illustration of a total solar eclipse.

A total solar eclipse and a 'ring of fire' make 2023 special for eclipse-chasers

By Jamie Carter published

2023 will have two very special solar eclipses. While the first solar eclipse is incredibly rare, the second is easily accessible to millions of North Americans.

An X1.1-class solar flare erupts from the sun on Feb. 11, 2023.

The sun just erupted with a major X-class solar flare. Here's what it looked like on video.

By Tariq Malik published

A major solar flare erupted from the erupted from the sun on Saturday (Feb. 11) and a NASA spacecraft caught it on video.