Tag: solar wind

NASA sounding rocket finds helium structures in sun’s atmosphere

Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen. But scientists aren’t sure just how much there actually is in the Sun’s atmosphere, where it is hard to measure. Knowing the amount of helium in the solar atmosphere is important to understanding the origin and acceleration of the solar wind—the constant stream of charged particles from the Sun….

The awesome beauty of the Eagle Nebula

The Eagle Nebula – aka Messier 16 or M16 – is home to several well-known cosmic structures, including the stunning Pillars of Creation and Stellar Spire. Source: https://earthsky.org/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/the-awesome-beauty-of-m16-the-eagle-nebula…

Comet NEOWISE’s tails

What is creating the structure in Comet NEOWISE’s 2 tails? Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/structure-comet-neowise-tails-gobi-desert-photo-july2020-apod…

Solar Orbiter’s 1st views of the sun

Solar Orbiter’s new views are the closest images of the sun taken so far. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/solar-orbiters-first-views-of-the-sun…

ESA’s Solar Orbiter made its 1st close approach to the sun today

Solar Orbiter swept as close as 50 million miles (77 million km) to our sun’s surface. Now scientists are at work testing the spacecraft’s 10 science instruments, including the 6 telescopes on-board. New images, to be released in mid-July, will be the closest of the sun ever captured. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/esa-solar-orbiter-1st-perihelion-june-15-2020…

Astronomers unveil the magnetic field of the solar corona

While the world has been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA) have been hard at work studying the solar corona, the outermost atmosphere of the sun which expands into interplanetary space. This stream of charged particles radiating from the surface of the sun is called the solar wind and expands to fill…

Here’s how SOHO and a skywatcher discovered Comet SWAN

Almost every day, the SWAN instrument aboard the sun-watching SOHO spacecraft makes a map of the sky. Anyone with internet access them maps and join the search for new comets. To date, 12 comets have been spotted in the SWAN data! Source: https://earthsky.org/space/discovery-comet-swan-solar-watcher-soho…

Will you see Comet SWAN?

Another comet – Comet SWAN – is creating a buzz. There’ve been some amazing long-exposure photos of it. Will you be able to see it? Maybe, but conditions are challenging. Charts and more here. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/comet-c-2020-f8-swan-how-to-see-charts…

Are giant magnetic bubbles depleting Uranus’ atmosphere?

Researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, looking at old data from Voyager 2, have found evidence that plasmoids are slowly causing Uranus’ atmosphere to leak into space. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/uranus-atmosphere-plasmoids-voyager-2…