All articles tagged with #sun
Live Science reports that comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS), a Kreutz sungrazer, did not survive its close pass with the Sun. Space-based observations show MAPS disintegrating into a cloud of debris and a ghostly tail after reaching perihelion about 100,000 miles from the solar surface, leaving no visible body behind.
If the Sun vanished, light would reach Earth for about eight more minutes, after which a rapid blackout would plunge the planet into darkness and an abrupt drop in temperature. Photosynthesis would cease, jeopardizing most surface life and food crops, while artificial light and underground refuges might sustain a fraction of humanity. The Moon would go dark, orbits could destabilize, and only hardy organisms like tardigrades and some chemosynthetic microbes might survive long term. Oceans could persist for years in the deepest regions, but the climate would continue to cool toward near‑absolute zero. In the far future the Sun itself will die and our oceans may vaporize as it expands, but the immediate catastrophe would be a swift descent into a dark, icy world.
A study using data from the SOHO and GONG networks confirms the Sun's magnetic dynamo is generated near the tachocline, roughly 200,000 km (about 124,000 miles) below the Sun's visible surface, with rotating plasma bands tracing a butterfly pattern that aligns with the 11-year sunspot cycle. This supports tachocline-based dynamo models and could improve space-weather predictions, with findings published in Scientific Reports.
NASA and NOAA will monitor solar activity around the clock as Artemis II travels beyond Earth’s protective magnetosphere, tracking solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and solar energetic particles with a network of spacecraft and ground teams to manage radiation exposure inside Orion and guide crew procedures.
Astronomers using Gaia data found Sun-like stars, including the Sun, clustered around 4–6 billion years old at similar distances from the Galactic center, implying the Sun migrated outward from the core; this migration helps time the Milky Way's corotation barrier and suggests moving away from the center aided life’s emergence on Earth.
A Gaia-based study of ~2 billion stars found 6,594 solar twins clustered in the 4–6 billion-year range near the Sun’s current orbit, suggesting a mass outward migration from the galactic core during the Milky Way’s bar formation. The temporary lowering of a corotation barrier likely allowed Sun-like stars to drift outward, placing our Sun in a calmer region conducive to life.
Researchers using Gaia data analyzed nearly two million stars and found 6,594 Sun-like stars around 4–6 billion years old, suggesting the Sun migrated from the Milky Way's inner regions to its current calmer orbit about 26,000–28,000 light-years from the center; the move likely occurred as the galaxy's central bar formed and accelerated stellar birth, moving many stars outward, which would have given Earth a more benign environment for life to emerge and evolve; studying solar twins helps reconstruct the solar system's early history.
Using Gaia data, scientists found that the Sun and thousands of Sun-like stars formed near the Milky Way's center about 4–6 billion years ago and migrated outward in a synchronized wave, likely aided by the galaxy's central bar, reshaping our understanding of the Sun’s origin and the Milky Way's history.
New Gaia-based research suggests the Sun and many Sun-like stars formed at similar times and distances from the Milky Way’s center and likely migrated outward from the galactic core about 4–6 billion years ago as the Milky Way’s central bar evolved. This outward journey could have placed our solar system in a calmer outer disk for much of its history, potentially aiding Earth’s habitability and the emergence of life. The findings stem from two astronomy studies analyzing ~6,600 solar twins within ~1,000 light-years and will be broadened with upcoming Gaia data.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before, reaching about 3.8 million miles from the surface, and gathered detailed data on the solar wind and the Sun’s outer atmosphere to help explain solar heating and improve space weather forecasting.
Astronomers report sunspot AR4366, about 15 times the width of Earth, is facing our planet and has already produced multiple strong M- and X-class solar flares that can disrupt radio signals. The piece explains how to view the sunspot safely with proper solar eclipse glasses or filtered optics, noting AR4366 will remain visible for several days and could spawn more flares and geomagnetic activity.
A powerful X4.2 class solar flare erupted from the Sun, causing radio signal outages across parts of Africa and Europe, with video coverage of the flare; space weather observers will monitor any geomagnetic disturbances and potential impacts on Earth’s technology.
The Sun erupted four strong X-class flares from sunspot cluster RGN 4366, including an X8.1—the most powerful since October 2024—potentially boosting energetic particle events and coronal mass ejections. CMEs can illuminate auroras but also disrupt satellites, power grids, and communications. Forecasters say more “exciting activity” could be on the way as the Sun remains unusually active during its 11‑year cycle, even though overall activity is expected to wind down later this decade.
Sunspot region 4366 has unleashed dozens of solar flares in 24 hours, including multiple M-class and X-class eruptions—the strongest since 2024—making it the most active sunspot in years. NOAA's SWPC says a coronal mass ejection is headed toward Earth but is likely to miss or only graze it, potentially sparking auroras at unusually low latitudes later this week.
Four X-class solar flares (X1.0, X8.1, X2.8, X1.6) erupted from sunspot group RGN 4366 on Feb 1–2, 2026, signaling lively space weather with potential energetic particle events and possible coronal mass ejections. Forecasters say more activity could follow as the active region evolves, with potential impacts on satellites, communications, and power grids if Earth-directed CMEs occur.