It took astronomers a little over a year to analyze the sharpest-ever images of a solar flare. But they’re finally done, and the results are illuminating—literally and figuratively. Last year, NSF’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope captured a high-resolution image of a solar flare crossed with dark strands of coronal loops. Further analysis revealed that […]
A Double Sunblast Could Mean Auroras Over the U.S. This Week
According to the experts at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are en route to Earth, and they could be bringing a glowing gift: a potential auroral display reaching farther south than usual—possibly lighting up skies over parts of the northern U.S., like New York and Idaho. This space weather alert […]
The Milky Way’s Black Hole Is Producing a Brilliant Light Show
The black hole at the center of our galaxy is experiencing a flurry of flares, ranging from flickers to brilliant eruptions, according to a team that analyzed data from recent observations by the Webb Space Telescope. The observations detailed the extreme environment in the immediate vicinity of Sagittarius A* (pronounced A-star), the supermassive black hole […]
The Sun Does Something Weird Right Before It Unleashes Solar Flares
Intense solar flares—sudden bursts of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun—can shoot out hazardous levels of energy strong enough to reach Earth’s atmosphere. Predicting solar flares, however, isn’t as simple as forecasting a sunny day. A team of researchers co-led by heliophysicist Emily Mason of Predictive Sciences Inc. has identified a type of solar activity within […]