Latest Sun Stories
For the first time, astronomers have found pristine clouds of the primordial gas that formed in the first few minutes after the Big Bang. The composition of the gas matches theoretical predictions, providing direct evidence in support of the modern cosmological explanation for the origins of elements in the universe. Only the lightest elements, mostly hydrogen and helium, were created in the Big Bang. Then a few hundred million years passed before clumps of this primordial gas condensed to...
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spotted one of the largest new sunspots to have appeared on the surface of the sun in years. The area is nearly 25,000 miles wide, which is over three times larger than the Earth. NASA said the region has already experienced about eight solar flares, including an M-class flare on November 2. The space agency also said that X-class flares are possible, which includes the largest possible solar flares. The sun shot off a flare from this region...
Ancient Norse mariners used Icelandic rocks to help them navigate the ocean when the Sun and stars were obscured by clouds, according to a study published Wednesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A. Over a thousand years ago Vikings ventured thousands of miles from their home toward Iceland and Greenland, and possibly even as far as North America, centuries before Columbus, by reading the position of the Sun and stars, and by way of landmarks, currents and waves. Experts have...
On October 28, 2006, the Hinode solar mission was at last ready. The spacecraft launched on September 22, but such missions require a handful of diagnostics before the instruments can be turned on and collect what is called "first light." Hopes were high. Hinode had the potential to provide some of the highest resolution images of the sun the world had ever seen -- as well as help solve such mysteries as why the sun's atmosphere is a thousand times hotter than its surface and how the...
[ Watch Video 1 ] | [ Watch Video 2 ] On October 25, 2006 a Delta II rocket launched from Cape Canaveral carrying two nearly identical spacecraft. Each satellite was one half of a mission entitled Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) and they were destined to do something never done before – see the entire sun simultaneously. The sun rotates, of course, so there's no part of the sun we haven't at some point observed from our vantage point on Earth. But watching this...
OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Chabot Space & Science Center has been awarded a $412,000 grant from NASA to create an innovative solar astronomy exhibition showcasing stunning images of the Sun, examining "space weather" created by solar activity and its influences on the Earth. The exhibition is scheduled to open at Chabot Space & Science Center in the fall of 2013. The Sun not only dominates the weather on the Earth, it also drives weather in space,...
According to a new study, a drop in the sun's radiation can trigger unusually cold winters in parts of North America and Europe. The scientists said this finding could improve long-range forecasts and help countries prepare for blizzards. Previously, researchers were just able to see a weak link between solar activity and winter weather. However, the new study used satellite measurements from NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) to reveal that differences in UV light...
Using one of the most sensitive neutrino detectors on the planet, an international team including physicists Laura Cadonati and Andrea Pocar at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are now measuring the flow of solar neutrinos reaching earth more precisely than ever before. The detector probes matter at the most fundamental level and provides a powerful tool for directly observing the sun’s composition. Pocar, Cadonati and colleagues report in the current issue of Physical Review...
ARMONK, N.Y., Oct. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move to help more Oracle software and hardware clients break free from restrictive licensing and rising technology costs, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today launched a new migration program to make it easier to transition to IBM workload optimized systems. Oracle clients that make the switch can save up to 50 percent on applicable IT costs over three to five years.(1) (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO) Clients using Oracle database...
The powerful influence of the Sun and the nature of the mysterious 'dark energy' motivate ESA’s next two science missions. Solar Orbiter and Euclid were selected today by ESA's Science Programme Committee for implementation, with launches planned for 2017 and 2019. These two missions are medium-class missions and are the first in ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Plan. Solar Orbiter will venture closer to the Sun than any previous mission. It is designed to make major breakthroughs in our...
Latest Sun Reference Libraries
The prominent feature that allows for the existence of life on Earth is the Sun. Radiation from our closest star provides heat and energy to our planet, driving biological processes and providing the necessary conditions for liquid water to naturally exist. But our Sun is only but one star in this vast Universe. And as it turns out, most stars are quite different than the one that illuminates our day. For this reason, scientists have, for hundreds of years, attempted to study the other...
Solar cycles: what are they and why should we care about them? Solar cycles are made up of what are known as solar minimums (min) and solar maximums (max). We refer to a solar min at the time when the sun is not active with many sunspots, while a solar max is just the opposite when we see a large increase in sunspot activity. So how long do solar cycles last? Typically they run on what is known as an 11 year cycle from the max to the min and then start over again anew. As of 2012 we...
Being a meteorologist for over thirteen years you start to take note of many things in the atmosphere and how they repeat themselves. Our Climate is no different. The definition of climate is stated as: the collective weather data in regards to moisture and temperature for over 30 years for the same location. So to better understand our climate we need to look at this. First, we have average temperatures for given places based on the 30 year average. Some years the temps are warmer or...
Solar Physics is a journal for solar and solar-stellar research and the study of solar terrestrial physics. Founded in 1967 by solar physicist Cornelis de Jager and publisher D. Reidel, the journal treats all aspects of solar physics, ranging from the internal structure of the Sun and its evolution, to outer corona and solar wind in interplanetary space. Solar Physics has four more than forty years been the principal journal for publications of fundamental research on the Sun. It is...
The spectroheliograph captures a photographic image of the Sun at a single wavelength of light. The wavelength chosen usually coincides with a spectral wavelength of one of the chemical elements present in the Sun. George Ellery Hale and Henri-Alexadre Deslandres developed I independently in 1890 and was further refined in 1932 by Robert R. McMath to take motion pictures. It operates by using a prism together with a narrow slit that passes a single wavelength. The light focuses on a...
