Tag Archive for 'Sun'

On Earth, the Northern and Southern lights occur when the solar wind (electrically charged particles from the Sun) follow our planet’s geomagnetic field lines to the poles and collide with the upper atmosphere. Mars lacks a global magnetic field, so instead the solar wind piles up in front of Mars in a bow shock, which blocks charged particles from reaching the bulk of the atmosphere. However, in a process first observed by NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft, some solar wind protons can slip past the bow shock by first bonding with electrons from the Martian upper atmosphere to form hydrogen atoms. Because these hydrogen atoms are electrically neutral, they can pass through the bow shock and go on to create an ultraviolet proton aurora on the dayside of Mars. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Proton Aurora Discovered on Mars

Jul 24, 2018 by News Staff

NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft has found a new type of Martian aurora that occurs over much of the day side of the...

An artist’s impression of a rocky asteroid. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick, Space-art.co.uk / University of Warwick / University of Cambridge.

Asteroid 2015 BZ509 Came from Interstellar Space 4.5 Billion Years Ago

May 22, 2018 by News Staff

2015 BZ509, an object in Jupiter’s co-orbital region with a retrograde motion around the Sun, is the first known asteroid to have been captured from...

Our planet is surrounded by the magnetosphere, shown here in blue. As charged particles from the Sun flow around the Earth’s magnetosphere, it forms the magnetosheath, shown in yellow. Image credit: Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

NASA’s MMS Mission Discovers New Magnetic Process in Earth’s Magnetosheath Region

May 10, 2018 by News Staff

Earth is surrounded by a protective magnetic environment, the magnetosphere, which deflects a supersonic stream of charged particles from the Sun, known...

An artist’s illustration of a planetary nebula. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Sun at End of Its Life Will Turn into Faint Planetary Nebula, Astronomers Predict

May 9, 2018 by News Staff

Planetary nebulae — massive rings of luminous, interstellar gas and dust — mark the end of the active life of 90% of all stars. But, for years,...

Gravity of Venus and Jupiter Elongates Earth’s Orbit Every 405,000 Years

May 8, 2018 by News Staff

A research team led by Rutgers University’s Professor Dennis Kent has documented a gradual shift in Earth’s orbit that repeats regularly every 405,000...

Composite image of an erupting solar prominence observed by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on August 31, 2012. Image credit: NASA / SDO / GSFC.

Gigantic Solar ‘Tornadoes’ Don’t Rotate After All

Apr 10, 2018 by News Staff

A new study indicates that solar tornadoes may have been misnamed because scientists have so far only been able to observe them using 2D images. Composite...

Periods of extreme cold winter weather and perilous snowfall could be linked to the solar cycle. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Extreme Cold Winter Weather Can Be Linked to Solar Cycle

Mar 26, 2018 by News Staff

Pioneering new research from the University of Exeter, UK, has revealed when the 11-year solar cycle is in its ‘weaker’ phase, there are warm spells...

Scholz’s star flew through the Oort Cloud 70,000 years ago. Image credit: José A. Peñas / SINC.

Scholz’s Star Disturbed Oort Cloud Objects 70,000 Years Ago

Mar 21, 2018 by Natali Anderson

About 70,000 years ago, a binary stellar system called ‘Scholz’s star’ passed within only 52,000 astronomical units (AU) of the Sun, i.e., within...

On October 19, 2014, Comet Siding Spring made a remarkably close encounter with Mars, buzzing the planet at just one third of the Earth-Moon distance. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Physicists Solve Mystery of Why Comets Emit X-Rays

Mar 15, 2018 by News Staff

The long-standing mystery of why comets give off X-ray emission has been solved by a group of experimental physicists led by the University of Oxford,...

On August 31, 2012, a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The CME traveled at over 900 miles per second. It did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth’s magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, with a glancing blow, causing aurora to appear on the night of September 3. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Researchers Recreate Solar Eruption in 3D

Mar 9, 2018 by News Staff

Using data from the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and NASA’s twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) satellites, solar...

This colorful image shows the sky around the bright pair of stars π1 Gruis (center-right, very red) and π2 Gruis (center-left, bluish-white). Just right of center the bright spiral galaxy IC 5201 is also visible and many other fainter galaxies are scattered across this wide-field image from the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Image credit: ESO / Digitized Sky Survey 2 / Davide De Martin.

Astronomers Observe Huge ‘Granules’ on Surface of Red Giant Star

Dec 29, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of scientists led by ESO astronomer Claudia Paladini has directly observed granules — patterns of convection currents in the...

This artist’s impression shows ‘Oumuamua. Image credit: Joy Pollard / Gemini Observatory / AURA / NSF.

Interstellar Asteroid Oumuamua Has Grayish-Red Organic-Rich Surface Layer, Astronomers Say

Dec 19, 2017 by News Staff

In October 2017, astronomers made a surprising discovery with the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawai’i — 1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua, the first asteroid...

Dr. Wheeler (front) developed a switchable photovoltaic window along with (from left) Nathan Neale, Robert Tenent, Jeffrey Blackburn, Elisa Miller, and David Moore. Image credit: Dennis Schroeder, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Researchers Develop Switchable Photovoltaic Window

Nov 29, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the U.S. DoE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has developed a thermochromic window capable of converting sunlight into...

Our Milky Way Galaxy is organized into spiral arms of giant stars that illuminate interstellar gas and dust. The Sun is in a finger called the Orion Spur. Overlaid is a graphic of galactic longitude in relation to our Sun. Image credit: NASA / Adler / University of Chicago / Wesleyan / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Find Very Old Stars in Solar Neighborhood

Nov 21, 2017 by News Staff

A research team led by Georgia State University astronomers has discovered some of the oldest stars in our solar neighborhood by determining their locations...

When Comet 96P/Machholz appeared in SOHO’s view in 2012, astronomers discovered two tiny comet fragments some distance ahead of the main body, signaling the comet was actively changing. This time around they have detected a third fragment -- another breadcrumb in the trail that indicates 96P/Machholz is still evolving. Image credit: ESA / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / SOHO / Steele Hill.

ESA and NASA Solar Observatories Snap Sungrazing Comet

Nov 9, 2017 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and NASA’s Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) have captured amazing photos of...

This image combines an image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in the optical and observations of the Jovian aurora in the ultraviolet. Image credit: NASA / ESA.

Jupiter’s Northern and Southern X-Ray Auroras Pulse Independently

Oct 31, 2017 by News Staff

High-energy X-ray emissions at Jupiter’s south pole consistently pulse every 11 minutes; meanwhile those at the gas giant’s north pole are erratic:...

Using a combination of the Biblical text and an ancient Egyptian text, Professor Humphreys and Dr. Graeme Waddington were able to refine the dates of the Egyptian pharaohs. Image credit: Pete Linforth.

Annular Solar Eclipse of 1207 BC Helps Date Egyptian Pharaohs

Oct 30, 2017 by News Staff

In a paper published on October 1 in the journal Astronomy & Geophysics, independent scholar and astrophysicist Graeme Waddington and University of...

A/2017 U1 (center). Image credit: Paulo Holvorcem & Michael Schwartz, Tenagra Observatories.

Astronomers Spot Interstellar Object in Our Solar System: A/2017 U1

Oct 29, 2017 by News Staff

For the first time, astronomers think they’ve spotted an asteroid (or perhaps a comet) in the Solar System that came from interstellar space. A/2017...

Artist’s conception of the complex magnetic field environment at Mars. Yellow lines represent magnetic field lines from the Sun carried by the solar wind, blue lines represent Martian surface magnetic fields, white sparks are reconnection activity, and red lines are reconnected magnetic fields that link the surface to space via the Martian magnetotail. Image credit: Anil Rao / University of Colorado / MAVEN / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Mars Has a Twisted Magnetotail, NASA Research Reveals

Oct 20, 2017 by News Staff

According to new research using data from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN) spacecraft, the Red Planet has an invisible magnetic...

Powerful Solar Storms Could Electrically Charge Mars’ Moon Phobos

Oct 18, 2017 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Advances in Space Research suggests that solar storms create a complex electrical environment around Phobos, giving...

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