ScienceDaily: Solar Flare News

Magnetic field misbehavior in solar flares explained: The culprit is turbulence

Wed, 22 May 2013 16:03:03 EDT

When a solar flare erupts from the sun, its magnetic fields sometime break a widely accepted rule of physics. Why? Now we know.

Model of Sun's magnetic field created

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:11:11 EDT

Researchers have uncovered an important mechanism behind the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields such as that of the Sun.

NASA's IRIS mission readies for a new challenge

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:43:43 EDT

NASA is getting ready to launch a new mission, a mission to observe a largely unexplored region of the solar atmosphere that powers its dynamic million-degree outer atmosphere and drives the solar wind. In late June 2013, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. IRIS will advance our understanding of the interface region, a region in the lower atmosphere of the sun where most of the sun's ultraviolet emissions are generated. Such emissions impact the near-Earth space environment and Earth's climate.

First X-class solar flares of 2013

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:37:37 EDT

On May 13, 2013, the sun emitted an X2.8-class flare, peaking at 12:05 p.m. EDT. This is the the strongest X-class flare of 2013 so far, surpassing in strength the X1.7-class flare that occurred 14 hours earlier. It is the 16th X-class flare of the current solar cycle and the third-largest flare of that cycle. The second-strongest was an X5.4 event on March 7, 2012. The strongest was an X6.9 on Aug. 9, 2011.

Impacts of strong solar flares

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:35:35 EDT

Given a legitimate need to protect Earth from the most intense forms of space weather -- great bursts of electromagnetic energy and particles that can sometimes stream from the sun -- some people worry that a gigantic "killer solar flare" could hurl enough energy to destroy Earth, but this is not actually possible.

NASA's Wind mission encounters 'SLAMS' waves

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EDT

To tease out what happens at that boundary of the magnetosphere and to better understand how radiation and energy from the sun can cross it and move closer to Earth, NASA launches spacecraft into this region to observe the changing conditions. From 1998 to 2002, NASA's Wind spacecraft traveled through this foreshock region in front of Earth 17 times, providing new information about the physics there.

NASA's SORCE satellite marks a decade in the sun

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:22:22 EDT

NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite has been providing data on the sun's irradiance for 10 years. SORCE measures electromagnetic radiation produced by the sun and the power per unit area of that energy on Earth's surface.

Sun in the way will affect Mars missions in April

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:24:24 EDT

The positions of the planets next month will mean diminished communications between Earth and NASA's spacecraft at Mars. Mars will be passing almost directly behind the sun, from Earth's perspective. The sun can easily disrupt radio transmissions between the two planets during that near-alignment. To prevent an impaired command from reaching an orbiter or rover, mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., are preparing to suspend sending any commands to spacecraft at Mars for weeks in April. Transmissions from Mars to Earth will also be reduced.

Voyager 1 has entered a new region of space, sudden changes in cosmic rays indicate

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:42:42 EDT

Thirty-five years after its launch, Voyager 1 appears to have travelled beyond the influence of the Sun and exited the heliosphere, according to a new study.

Particles and fields package integrated on upcoming Mars-bound spacecraft

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:11:11 EDT

The six science instruments that comprise the Particles and Fields Package that will characterize the solar wind and ionosphere of Mars have been integrated aboard NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN spacecraft. The spacecraft is on track for launch later this year.

NASA's Van Allen Probes reveal a new radiation belt around Earth

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:54:54 EST

NASA's Van Allen Probes mission has discovered a previously unknown third radiation belt around Earth, revealing the existence of unexpected structures and processes within these hazardous regions of space.

NASA deciphering the mysterious math of the solar wind

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:46:46 EST

The sun and its prodigious stream of solar particles, called the solar wind, can be particularly tricky to model since as the material streams to the outer reaches of the solar system it carries along its own magnetic fields. The magnetic forces add an extra set of laws to incorporate when trying to determine what's governing the movement. Indeed, until now, equations for certain aspects of the solar wind have never been successfully devised to correlate to the observations seen by instruments in space. Now, for the first time, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has created a set of the necessary equations.

Faraday cup critical part of audacious mission to the sun

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:11:11 EST

A critical instrument on a mission to the sun is being tested. The flight's experiments could answer the question: How can the sun be hot at its core yet stay relatively cool at its surface, while at the same time super-heating its coronal atmosphere? Unlike Earth's atmosphere, which cools with increasing height from the surface, the sun's atmosphere gets hotter as it becomes more distant from the solar surface.

NASA's SDO shows a little 'rain' on the sun

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:36:36 EST

Eruptive events on the sun can be wildly different. Some come just with a solar flare, some with an additional ejection of solar material called a coronal mass ejection, and some with complex moving structures in association with changes in magnetic field lines that loop up into the sun's atmosphere, the corona. On July 19, 2012, an eruption occurred on the sun that produced all three.

Sun's next-door twin: Cool layer in the atmosphere of Alpha Centauri A

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:24:24 EST

The European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory has detected a cool layer in the atmosphere of Alpha Centauri A, the first time this has been seen in a star beyond our own Sun. The finding is not only important for understanding the Sun's activity, but could also help in the quest to discover proto-planetary systems around other stars.

Cassini sheds light on cosmic particle accelerators

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:32:32 EST

During a chance encounter with what appears to be an unusually strong blast of solar wind at Saturn, NASA's Cassini spacecraft detected particles being accelerated to ultra-high energies. This is similar to the acceleration that takes place around distant supernovas.

Year three: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory mission highlights

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:04:04 EST

On Feb. 11, 2010, NASA launched an unprecedented solar observatory into space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) flew up on an Atlas V rocket, carrying instruments that scientists hoped would revolutionize observations of the sun. If all went according to plan, SDO would provide incredibly high-resolution data of the entire solar disk almost as quickly as once a second.

New 'retention model' explains enigmatic ribbon at edge of solar system

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:21:21 EST

Since its Oct. 2008 launch, NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer has provided images of the invisible interactions between our home in the galaxy and interstellar space. Particles emanating from this boundary produce a striking, narrow ribbon, which had yet to be explained despite more than a dozen possible theories. In a new "retention model," researchers suggest that charged particles trapped in this region create the ribbon as they escape as neutral atoms.

Light shone on star mystery: Why sun's corona is much hotter than its surface

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:46:46 EST

Scientists have begun to unlock the mystery of why the outer edge of the Sun is much hotter than its surface for the first time.

Inside a solar eruption: NASA's SDO provides first sightings of how a coronal mass ejection forms

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 09:27:27 EST

On July 18, 2012, a fairly small explosion of light burst off the lower right limb of the sun. Such flares often come with an associated eruption of solar material, known as a coronal mass ejection or CME -- but this one did not. Something interesting did happen, however. Magnetic field lines in this area of the sun's atmosphere, the corona, began to twist and kink, generating the hottest solar material -- a charged gas called plasma -- to trace out the newly-formed slinky shape. The plasma glowed brightly in extreme ultraviolet images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and scientists were able to watch for the first time the very formation of something they had long theorized was at the heart of many eruptive events on the sun: a flux rope.

Space instrument adds big piece to solar corona puzzle

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:42:42 EST

How can the solar atmosphere get hotter, rather than colder, the farther you go from the sun's surface? This mystery has puzzled solar astronomers for decades. A suborbital rocket mission that launched in July 2012 has just provided a major piece of the puzzle.

NASA's IRIS spacecraft is fully integrated

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 11:26:26 EST

NASA's next Small Explorer (SMEX) mission to study the little-understood lower levels of the sun's atmosphere has been fully integrated and final testing is underway.

Did an 8th century gamma ray burst irradiate Earth?

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 08:32:32 EST

A nearby short duration gamma-ray burst may be the cause of an intense blast of high-energy radiation that hit the Earth in the 8th century, according to new research.

New evidence indicates auroras occur outside our solar system

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 08:32:32 EST

Planetary scientists have found new evidence suggesting auroras – similar to Earth’s Aurora Borealis - occur on bodies outside our solar system.

New sunspots producing space weather

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 17:21:21 EST

On Jan. 13, 2013, at 2:24 a.m. EST, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME. Not to be confused with a solar flare, a CME is a solar phenomenon that can send solar particles into space and reach Earth one to three days later.

Cluster mission indicates turbulent eddies may warm the solar wind

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:52:52 EST

The sun ejects a continuous flow of electrically charged particles and magnetic fields in the form of the solar wind -- and this wind is hotter than it should be. A new study of data obtained by European Space Agency's Cluster spacecraft may help explain the mystery.

'Gusty winds' in space turbulence: First direct measurement of its kind in the lab

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 15:25:25 EST

Imagine riding in an airplane as the plane is jolted back and forth by gusts of wind that you can't prove exist but are there nonetheless. Similar turbulence exists in space, and a research team has directly measured it for the first time in the laboratory.

How white dwarfs mimic black holes

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:13:13 EST

Astronomers have revealed that bright X-ray flares in nearby galaxies, once assumed to indicate the presence of black holes, can in fact be produced by white dwarfs. They made the discovery by detecting a dramatic, short-lived X-ray flare that was picked up by an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station.

NASA's EUNIS mission: Six minutes in the life of the sun

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:35:35 EST

In December, a NASA mission to study the sun will make its third launch into space for a six-minute flight to gather information about the way material roils through the sun's atmosphere, sometimes causing eruptions and ejections that travel as far as Earth.

Sungrazing comets as solar probes

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:50:50 EST

To observe how winds move high in Earth's atmosphere, scientists sometimes release clouds of barium as tracers to track how the material corkscrews, blows around, and changes composition in response to high altitude winds -- but scientists have no similar technique to study the turbulent atmosphere of the sun. So researchers were excited in December 2011, when Comet Lovejoy swept right through the sun's corona with its long tail streaming behind it.

Astronomers discover and 'weigh' infant solar system: Young star with rotating dust disk is youngest still-forming planetary system yet found

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 13:24:24 EST

A young star no more than 300,000 years old is surrounded by a disk of dust and gas rotating in the same manner as planets in our Solar System, making it the youngest such infant system yet found.

First-ever hyperspectral images of Earth's auroras: New camera provides tantalizing clues of new atmospheric phenomenon

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:18:18 EST

Hoping to expand our understanding of auroras and other fleeting atmospheric events, a team of space-weather researchers designed and built a new camera with unprecedented capabilities that can simultaneously image multiple spectral bands, in essence different wavelengths or colors, of light. The camera produced the first-ever hyperspectral images of auroras -- commonly referred to as "the Northern (or Southern) Lights"-- and may already have revealed a previously unknown atmospheric phenomenon.

One step closer to 'space climate' forecasting

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 09:37:37 EST

The Sun determines the course of the planets. But the planets may also exert an influence on the Sun. Their configurations appear to be responsible for long-term cycles of increased solar activity. Scientists have compared cycles of solar magnetic activity over the past 10,000 years – as reconstructed from ice cores – with the action of the planets. The agreement observed is very striking, raising hopes that our ability to forecast periods of intense solar activity may ultimately be improved. This is becoming increasingly important as our society is ever-more dependent on technologies such as satellite communications and navigation systems – as well as power grids – which can be disabled by major solar eruptions.

Born-again star foreshadows fate of Solar System

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:23:23 EST

Astronomers have found evidence for a dying Sun-like star coming briefly back to life after casting its gassy shells out into space, mimicking the possible fate our own Solar System faces in a few billion years.

Total solar eclipse, Nov. 13, 2012: Hinode to support ground-based observations

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:13:13 EST

On Nov. 13, 2012, certain parts of Earth will experience a total solar eclipse. The eclipse will only be seen from a narrow corridor in the southern hemisphere that is mostly over the ocean but also cuts across the northern tip of Australia. The JAXA/NASA Hinode mission will experience a partial eclipse of the sun near the same time as the observers in Australia.

NASA sees sun emit a mid-level flare

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:12:12 EST

On Nov. 13, 2012, the sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 9:04 pm EST. This flare is classified as an M6 flare. M-class flares are the weakest flares that can still cause some space weather effects near Earth. They can cause brief radio blackouts at the poles. This M-class flare caused a radio blackout categorized according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's Space Weather Scales as R2 -- or "moderate" -- on a scale of R1 to R5. It has since subsided.

NASA's SAMPEX mission: A space weather warrior

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:49:49 EDT

NASA's very first small explorer, the Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer or SAMPEX, was launched July 3, 1992 to study the zoo of particles and cosmic rays surrounding Earth. Surviving much longer than its expected mission of three years and providing invaluable observations for those who study space weather, the SAMPEX mission is now almost over. In early November, the spacecraft's orbit will decay enough that it will re-enter Earth's atmosphere, burning up completely on re-entry.

Next-generation X-ray telescope ready to fly

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:45:45 EDT

Those who watch the sun are regularly treated to brilliant shows -- dancing loops of solar material rise up, dark magnetic regions called sunspots twist across the surface, and dazzling flares of light and radiation explode into space. But there are smaller, barely visible events, too: much smaller and more frequent eruptions called nanoflares. Depending on how many and how energetic these are, nanoflares may be the missing piece of the puzzle to help understand what seeds the cascade that causes a much bigger flare, or to explain how the sun transfers so much energy to its atmosphere that it's actually hotter than the surface.

Asteroid belts of just the right size are friendly to life

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:12:12 EDT

Solar systems with life-bearing planets may be rare if they are dependent on the presence of asteroid belts of just the right mass, according to a new study. Researchers suggest that the size and location of an asteroid belt, shaped by the evolution of the Sun's protoplanetary disk and by the gravitational influence of a nearby giant Jupiter-like planet, may determine whether complex life will evolve on an Earth-like planet.

Earth's magnetosphere behaves like a sieve

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:16:16 EDT

Our protective magnetic bubble lets the solar wind in under a wider range of conditions than previously believed. Earth’s magnetic field is our planet’s first line of defense against the bombardment of the solar wind. This stream of plasma is launched by the Sun and travels across the Solar System, carrying its own magnetic field with it. Depending on how the solar wind’s interplanetary magnetic field – IMF – is aligned with Earth’s magnetic field, different phenomena can arise in Earth’s immediate environment.

NASA sees active region on the sun emit another flare

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:45:45 EDT

The sun emitted a significant solar flare on Oct. 22, 2012, peaking at 11:17 pm EDT. The flare came from an active region on the left side of the sun that has been numbered AR 1598, which has already been the source of a number of weaker flares. This flare was classified as an X1.8-class flare.

Getting NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory into focus

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:47:47 EDT

From Sept. 6 to Sept. 29, 2012, NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) moved into its semi-annual eclipse season, a time when Earth blocks the telescope's view of the sun for a period of time each day. Scientists choose orbits for solar telescopes to minimize eclipses as much as possible, but they are a fact of life -- one that comes with a period of fuzzy imagery directly after the eclipse.

The science behind those eye-popping northern lights

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:41:41 EDT

Stormy weather on the sun drives the glistening aurorae in our clear night skies.

Sun unleashes a wide, but benign, coronal mass ejection

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 14:03:03 EDT

The sun erupted with a wide, Earth-directed coronal mass ejection on Sept. 27, 2012 at 10:25 p.m. EDT.

Scientists shed light on riddle of sun's explosive events

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 14:40:40 EDT

Four decades of active research and debate by the solar physics community have failed to bring consensus on what drives the sun's powerful coronal mass ejections that can have profound "space weather" effects on Earth-based power grids and satellites in near-Earth geospace.

NASA's solar fleet peers into coronal cavities

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 16:46:46 EDT

The sun's atmosphere dances. Giant columns of solar material -- made of gas so hot that many of the electrons have been scorched off the atoms, turning it into a form of magnetized matter we call plasma -- leap off the sun's surface, jumping and twisting. Sometimes these prominences of solar material shoot off, escaping completely into space; other times they fall back down under their own weight. The prominences are sometimes also the inner structure of a larger formation, appearing from the side almost as the filament inside a large light bulb. The bright structure around and above that light bulb is called a streamer, and the inside "empty" area is called a coronal prominence cavity. Scientists have published new research on the temperatures of the sun's coronal cavities. By understanding aspects of these cavities -- that is the shape, density and temperature -- scientists can better understand the space weather that can disrupt technologies near Earth.

NASA mission to study magnetic explosions passes major review

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 16:22:22 EDT

On August 31, 2012, NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission proved it was ready for its next steps by passing what's called a Systems Integration Review (SIR), which deems a mission ready to integrate instruments onto the spacecraft.

NASA's SDO sees massive filament erupt on sun

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 19:26:26 EDT

On August 31, 2012 a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, with a glancing blow. causing aurora to appear on the night of Monday, September 3.

Radiation belt storm probes: Spacecraft pair to explore mysterious region where other satellites fear to tread

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:05:05 EDT

Spacecraft pair will explore the mysterious region where other satellites fear to tread.

ACE, workhorse of NASA's heliophysics fleet, is 15

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:10:10 EDT

The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) is Earth's vanguard. Orbiting around a point 900,000 miles away between Earth and our sun, this satellite is ever vigilant, recording the combination of radiation -- from the sun, from the solar system, from the galaxy -- that streams by. None of this radiation can harm humans on Earth, but the biggest bursts of particles from the sun can flow into near-Earth space causing a dynamic space weather system that can damage satellites and interfere with radio communication transmissions and navigation systems.

Twin satellites will help improve space weather forecasts

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 21:26:26 EDT

On Aug. 24, NASA will launch two identical satellites from Cape Canaveral, Fla., to begin its Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission to study the extremes of space weather and help scientists improve space weather forecasts. The University of Iowa has designed the Electromagnetic Instrument Suite with Integrated Science project to study how various amounts of space radiation form and change during space storms.

Sun's plasma loops recreated in the lab to help understand solar physics

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 09:44:44 EDT

In orbit around Earth is a wide range of satellites that we rely on for everything from television feeds to GPS navigation. Although these spacecraft soar high above storms on Earth, they are still vulnerable to weather from the sun. Large solar flares can cause widespread damage, which is why researchers are working to learn more about the possible precursors to solar flares called plasma loops by recreating them in the lab.

Hot solar wind: Magnetic turbulence trumps collisions to heat solar wind

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 08:40:40 EDT

New research has provided significant insight into how the solar wind heats up when it should not. The solar wind rushes outwards from the raging inferno that is our Sun, but from then on the wind should only get cooler as it expands beyond our solar system since there are no particle collisions to dissipate energy. However, the solar wind is surprisingly hotter than it should be, which has puzzled scientists for decades. Two new articles may have solved that puzzle.

Sun's almost perfectly round shape baffles scientists

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:08:08 EDT

The sun is nearly the roundest object ever measured. If scaled to the size of a beach ball, it would be so round that the difference between the widest and narrow diameters would be much less than the width of a human hair.

NASA is tracking electron beams from the sun

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:20:20 EDT

In the quest to understand how the world's weather moves around the globe, scientists have had to tease apart different kinds of atmospheric movement, such as the great jet streams that can move across a whole hemisphere versus more intricate, localized flows. Much the same must currently be done to understand the various motions at work in the great space weather system that links the sun and Earth as the sun shoots material out in all directions, creating its own version of a particle sea to fill up the solar system.

NASA STEREO observes one of the fastest CMEs on record

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 17:41:41 EDT

On July 23, 2012, a massive cloud of solar material erupted off the sun's right side, zooming out into space, passing one of NASA's Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft along the way. Using the STEREO data, scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. clocked this giant cloud, known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME, as traveling between 1,800 and 2,200 miles per second as it left the sun.

New system could predict solar flares, give advance warning

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:57:57 EDT

Researchers may have discovered a new method to predict solar flares more than a day before they occur, providing advance warning to help protect satellites, power grids and astronauts from potentially dangerous radiation.

Signs changing fast for Voyager at solar system edge

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 08:28:28 EDT

Two of three key signs of changes expected to occur at the boundary of interstellar space have changed faster than at any other time in the last seven years, according to new data from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft.

Solar events blocking Martian satellite signal pinpointed

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:14:14 EDT

In August of 2005, the Mars Express spacecraft was dutifully sending back data on the stratigraphy of the upper regions of the Martian crust when its signal kept getting interrupted. Scientists wanted to know why. Now, researchers have provided a clear answer.

Solar corona revealed in super-high-definition

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 19:55:55 EDT

Astronomers have just released the highest-resolution images ever taken of the Sun's corona, or million-degree outer atmosphere, in an extreme-ultraviolet wavelength of light. The 16-megapixel images were captured by NASA's High Resolution Coronal Imager, or Hi-C. The Hi-C telescope provides five times more detail than the next-best observations by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.