The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has been watching the Sun for almost 20 years. In that time it has seen solar activity ramp up and die down repeatedly. Its Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope has taken images of the resulting waxing and waning of the Sun’s corona – its atmosphere – that are impossible to record from the ground.
As NASA missions explore our solar system and search for new worlds, they are finding water in surprising places. Water is but one piece of our search for habitable planets and life beyond Earth, yet it links many seemingly unrelated worlds in surprising ways.
“NASA science activities have provided a wave of amazing findings related to water in recent years … Read the rest of this article
This dramatic panorama shows a colourful, shimmering auroral curtain reflected in a placid Icelandic lake. The image was taken on 18 March 2015 by Carlos Gauna, near Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon in southern Iceland.
The celestial display was generated by a coronal mass ejection, or CME – a massive eruption on the Sun – on 15 March. A flotilla of Sun-watching … Read the rest of this article
ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft has made the first measurement of molecular nitrogen at a comet, providing clues about the temperature environment in which Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko formed.
Rosetta arrived last August, and has since been collecting extensive data on the comet and its environment with its suite of 11 science instruments.
The in situ detection of molecular nitrogen has long been sought … Read the rest of this article
This snapshot of our constantly changing Sun catches looping filaments and energetic eruptions on their outward journey from our star’s turbulent surface.
The disc of our star is a rippling mass of bright, hot active areas, interspersed with dark, cool snaking filaments that wrap around the star. Surrounding the tumultuous solar surface is the chaotic corona, a rarified atmosphere of … Read the rest of this article
Auroras are the most visible manifestation of the Sun’s effect on Earth, but many aspects of these spectacular displays are still poorly understood. Thanks to ESA’s Cluster and NASA’s Image satellites working together, a particular type of very high-latitude aurora has now been explained.
Although separated by some 150 million kilometres, the Sun and Earth are connected by the solar … Read the rest of this article
Since 2012, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has experienced three ‘tsunami waves’ in interstellar space. The most recent, which reached the spacecraft earlier this year, is still propagating outward according to new data. It is the longest-lasting shock wave that researchers have seen in interstellar space.
“Most people would have thought the interstellar medium would have been smooth and quiet. … Read the rest of this article
All three NASA orbiters around Mars confirmed their healthy status Sunday after each took shelter behind Mars during a period of risk from dust released by a passing comet.
Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter all are part of a campaign to study comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring and possible effects on … Read the rest of this article
This weekend, Comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) will make a historically close approach to Mars. Satellites and rovers will get an eye-full as the green comet passes less than 140,000 km (87,000 miles) above the Red Planet’s surface. No one knows what will happen. Possible side-effects of the flyby include a Martian meteor shower and auroras.
Europe’s Mars orbiter and … Read the rest of this article
After 10-month voyage across more than 400 million miles of empty space, NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft reached Mars on Sept. 21st 2014. Less than 8 hours later, the data started to flow.
“Our Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) obtained these false-color images of Mars on Sept. 22nd,” says Nick Schneider who leads the instrument team at the University of Colorado. … Read the rest of this article
The Sun Now (Visible light)
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The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
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Aurora Oval
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Aurora Oval
(Southern Hemisphere) |
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