sun Archives

December 4, 2024December 4, 2024 by Evan Gough

Here’s How Interstellar Objects and Rogue Planets Can be Trapped in the Solar System

Illustration of an interstellar object approaching our solar system. Credit: Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. daSilva

When Oumuamua traversed our Solar System in 2017 it was the first confirmed Interstellar Object (ISO) to do so. Then in 2019, Comet 2l/Borisov did the same thing. These are the only two confirmed ISOs to visit our Solar System. Many more ISOs must have visited in our Solar System’s long history, and many more will visit in the future. There are obviously more of these objects out there, and the upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory is expected to discover many more.

It’s possible that the Sun could capture an ISO or a rogue planet in the same way that some of the planets have captured moons.

It all comes down to phase space.

November 26, 2024November 26, 2024 by Mark Thompson

An Insanely High-Resolution Image of the Sun

The solar surface in visible light composed of data from Solar Orbiter’s instrument PHI from March 22, 2023

Our local star the Sun has been the source of many studies from ground based telescopes to space based observatories. The ESA Solar Orbiter has been approaching the Sun, capturing images along the way in unprecedented detail. It arrived at its halfway point in March last year and captured a series of 25 images. They have now been stitched together to reveal an astonishingly high resolution image. You can even zoom in to see individual granules in the solar photosphere.

September 6, 2023September 6, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

India Follows its Lunar Mission by Sending a Spacecraft to Study the Sun

The launch of India's Aditya-L1 spacecraft, bound for the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange Point to study the Sun. Credit: ISRO.

Amid its Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon, India’s space agency launched another satellite and this one will study the Sun.

The spacecraft, called Aditya-L1, is bound for the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrange Point, located 1.5 million km from Earth. This will give it a perfect perspective to watch the Sun, similar to NASA’s SOHO mission. It will reach its destination in about three months and then use seven instruments to observe the Sun, its atmosphere, and the solar environment.

June 8, 2023June 8, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti

New Detailed Images of the Sun from the World’s Most Powerful Ground-Based Solar Telescope

A collage of new solar images captured by the Inouye Solar Telescope, which is a small amount of solar data obtained during the Inouye’s first year of operations throughout its commissioning phase. Images include sunspots and quiet regions of the Sun, known as convection cells. (Credit: NSF/AURA/NSO)

Our Sun continues to demonstrate its awesome power in a breathtaking collection of recent images taken by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Daniel Inouye Solar Telescope, aka Inouye Solar Telescope, which is the world’s largest and most powerful ground-based solar telescope. These images, taken by one of Inouye’s first-generation instruments, the Visible-Broadband Imager (VBI), show our Sun in incredible, up-close detail.

April 27, 2023April 27, 2023 by Brian Koberlein

Gravitational Waves From Pulsars Could Be Used to Probe the Interior of the Sun

A solar flare, as it appears in extreme ultra-violet light. Some stars emit superflares similar to this, but many times brighter and stronger than those from the Sun. Credit: NASA/SFC/SDO

Gravitational wave astronomy is still in its early stages. So far it has focused on the most energetic and distinct sources of gravitational waves, such as the cataclysmic mergers of black holes and neutron stars. But that will change as our gravitational telescopes improve, and it will allow astronomers to explore the universe in ways previously impossible.

April 20, 2023April 20, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

Solar Orbiter Continues to Get Closer to the Sun, Revealing More and More With Each Pass

An artists concept of the Solar Orbiter spacecraft studying the Sun. Credit: ESA.

On April 10th, ESA’s Solar Orbiter made its closest flyby of the Sun, coming to within just 29% of the distance from the Earth to the Sun. From this vantage point, the spacecraft is performing close-up studies of our Sun and inner heliosphere. This is basically uncharted territory, as we’ve never had a spacecraft this close to the Sun.

One of the goals of the mission is to figure out why the Sun’s corona — its outer atmosphere — is so hot. The corona can reach temperatures of 2 million degrees C, vastly hotter than its 5,500 C surface. A new paper based on Solar Orbiter data, may offer some clues.

April 18, 2023April 18, 2023 by Laurence Tognetti

Watch a Dramatic Tornado Rise from the Surface of the Sun, Captured by Andrew McCarthy

A 140 megapixel image of the Sun with a tornado-like prominence in the upper right portion and the whisps of the solar corona. Data from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and an image from Jason Guenzel of the 2017 total solar eclipse were combined to form this image. (Credit: Andrew McCarthy & Jason Guenzel)

Amateur astrophotography is becoming increasingly popular among the astronomy community, as advancements in telescope and camera technologies allow individuals from all walks of life to observe the heavens in mind-blowing detail, including our own Sun, albeit with the proper protective equipment. This was recently demonstrated by Andrew McCarthy (Twitter @AJamesMcCarthy), who owns and operates Cosmic Background Studios, and is originally from Northern California but currently resides in Florence, Arizona.

February 13, 2023February 13, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

The Sun Continues its Journey to Solar Maximum, Releasing X-Class Flares

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this image of a solar flare – as seen in the bright flash in the center-left– on Feb. 11, 2023. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares, and which is colorized in red and orange. Credit: NASA/SDO

The Sun belted out strong solar flares two days in a row, as activity ramps up toward the next Solar Maximum, predicted for mid-2025.

On Saturday, February 11, a flare classified as X1.1 erupted from the Sun, while just a day before a different region on the Sun blasted out a X1.0 flare.

February 10, 2023February 10, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

Images From Three Telescopes Merged Into One Spectacular Picture of the Sun

A three-telescope view of the Sun. Credit: NASA

You’ve probably never seen our Sun look like this before. This bizarre image of old Sol is made from data produced by three different space telescopes, each observing the Sun at a different wavelength.

January 29, 2023January 29, 2023 by Nancy Atkinson

Astronomers See Flashes on the Sun That Could be a Sign of an Upcoming Flare

A moderate solar flare erupts on the sun July 8, 2014 in this image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credit: NASA/SDO

Using data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, scientists have discovered new clues that could help predict when and where the next solar flare might blast from the Sun.

Researchers were able to identify small flashes in the upper layers of the corona – the Sun’s atmosphere – found above regions that would later flare in energetic bursts of light and particles released from the Sun. The scientists compared the flashes to small sparklers before the big fireworks.