Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 30, 2023

Scientists finally acknowledge that they got their solar cycle predictions wrong, and that we are fast approaching the sun's explosive peak

Scientists forecasting solar weather have finally acknowledged that the initial predictions for the current solar cycle were way off. The researchers now say that we are fast approaching an explosive peak in solar activity. Earlier this year, Live Science reported that the solar maximum will likely hit harder and sooner...

Nov 1, 2023

15 signs the sun is gearing up for its explosive peak — the solar maximum

Roughly every 11 years, the sun slowly transitions from solar minimum, when our star is a smooth and calm ball of plasma, to solar maximum, when it becomes a chaotic, fiery mass littered with dark, planet-size sunspots that spew out solar storms. During solar maximum, the likelihood of Earth being...

Nov 2, 2023

Massive solar eruption carves 60,000-mile-long 'canyon of fire' into the sun on Halloween night

A massive plume of plasma that erupted from the sun on Halloween briefly carved out an enormous canyon of fire on the solar surface that was twice as wide as the contiguous U.S. and more than seven times as long as Earth. The enormous, fiery valley is another striking reminder...

Nov 5, 2023

Space photo of the week: A radio 'ring of fire' shows a solar eclipse as never seen before

What it is: Radio images of an annular solar eclipse. When it was taken: Oct. 14, 2023. Where it was taken from: Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA), California. Why it's so special: Scientists have taken the first radio telescope images of an annular solar eclipse's famous ring...

Nov 12, 2023

The sun may be smaller than we thought

The sun may be a little smaller than we thought it was. Researchers who measure the sun often use total solar eclipses to block out most of its light and get a glimpse of its corona, or outer atmosphere. This method pegged the sun's radius at about 432,468 miles (695,990...

Nov 18, 2023

Astronomers spot aurora on the sun for the 1st time

Scientists have spotted a stunning aurora-like display of crackling radio waves over the surface of the sun that is strikingly similar to the Northern Lights on Earth. The solar lightshow took place roughly 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) above a sunspot — a magnetically warped dark patch on our star's surface....

Nov 21, 2023

Enormous 'sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us with solar flares

One of the largest and most densely populated sunspot regions seen in more than a decade has appeared on the sun's nearside to Earth — and has begun to unleash a barrage of solar storms that are shaking up our home star's surface in a big way. The sunspots' emergence...

Dec 1, 2023

A once-in-a-lifetime view of the sun's 'solar maximum' is coming April 8th

A dramatic view of the sun at 'solar maximum' will await eclipse-chasers on April 8, 2024, during North America's total solar eclipse. Only those within a 125-mile (200 km) wide path of totality can glimpse the sun's corona — its hotter outer atmosphere — with their naked eyes during totality....

Dec 1, 2023

'Cannibal' solar explosion likely to hit Earth today, bringing strong geomagnetic storm and widespread auroras

The sun recently unleashed an almost X-class solar flare that was only fractionally less powerful than one of the sun's most powerful explosions. This flare has already bombarded us with radiation and unleashed a coronal mass ejection (CME) that will likely slam into Earth today (Dec. 1), resulting in strong...

Dec 2, 2023

'Impossible' orange auroras spotted in UK after solar storm slams into Earth

Rarely seen orange auroras, which are supposed to be impossible to see, and a photobombing meteor recently shone above the U.K. after a canyon of fire solar storm smashed into Earth, stunning new images reveal. Photographer Graeme Whipps spotted the fiery auroras in the skies above Aberdeenshire in Scotland at...

Dec 4, 2023

Solar storm from 1977 reveals how unprepared we are for the next 'big one'

The strength of solar storms hitting Earth can vary dramatically over short distances, with places just a few dozen miles apart experiencing very different magnetic disruptions, new research finds. This could mean that some areas are more vulnerable to large solar storms than previously appreciated, study co-author Eija Tanskanen, the...

Dec 5, 2023

Gigantic 'hole' in the sun wider than 60 Earths is spewing superfast solar wind right at us

An enormous dark hole has opened up in the sun's surface and is spewing powerful streams of unusually fast radiation, known as solar wind, right at Earth. The size and orientation of the temporary gap, which is wider than 60 Earths, is unprecedented at this stage of the solar cycle,...

Dec 26, 2023

10 solar storms that blew us away in 2023

Solar activity has kicked up a gear in 2023 as the sun nears the start of the explosive peak in its roughly 11-year solar cycle, known as the solar maximum. As a result, our home star has been spitting out abundant and powerful solar storms, as well as producing other...

Dec 28, 2023

When is the next solar eclipse?

One of the most significant celestial events is coming to North America this spring — a total solar eclipse. Total solar eclipses are uncommon and dynamic events, resulting in one of nature's most spectacular sights. Here's everything you need to know about the next eclipse. When is the next total...

Jan 2, 2024

Monstrous X5 solar flare launched on New Year's Eve could bring auroras to Earth tonight

Even the sun is not above launching a few New Year's Eve fireworks, it seems. In the final hours of Dec. 31, 2023, satellites near Earth detected a gargantuan X5-class solar flare erupting from our star — ending the year with the single most powerful solar explosion seen since 2017....