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Articles on Sun

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A red hazy sunset over Indiana caused by wildfire smoke from the Western U.S. SOPA Images/LightRocket va Getty Images

How can smoke from West Coast fires cause red sunsets in New York?

Last week, much of the Midwest and eastern US experienced hazy skies and red sunsets. The cause was smoke transported from the Western US by the jet stream and spread as far as Boston and even Europe.
Artist’s interpretation of the inside of the Sun. James Josephides, CAS Swinburne University of Technology

Curious Kids: what does the Sun’s core look like?

If you could go right into the middle of the Sun, everything would be incredibly bright - and perhaps a little bit pink.
As the Earth orbits the Sun, the Sun appears to move through the ancient constellations of the zodiac. Tauʻolunga/Wikimedia Commons

Why your zodiac sign is probably wrong

Astronomy and astrology do not agree on the dates of the zodiac constellations.
The Moon passes in front of the Sun during this eclipse at Lake Bolac, Victoria, April 29, 2014. Phil Hart

Watch the Moon hide the Sun from northern Australia

On December 26 a solar eclipse will be visible from northern Australia, southern Asia and parts of the Middle East.
In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft looked back toward the sun and captured this near-sunset view of the rugged, icy mountains and flat ice plains extending to Pluto’s horizon. NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

Planetary confusion – why astronomers keep changing what it means to be a planet

Many people are still upset that Pluto was demoted from being a planet. But definitions of various celestial objects are fairly fluid. So whether it is an asteroid or moon or planet is up for debate.
This artist’s impression shows a view of the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the solar system. ESO/M. Kornmesser

NASA’s TESS spacecraft is finding hundreds of exoplanets – and is poised to find thousands more

Beyond the outer edge of the Solar System, mysterious, unknown worlds await by the thousands. Astronomers can now finally find them and explore them - but will we find another Earth?
When it was young, the Sun spun fast – very fast. It would do one rotation in a just one or two Earth days. www.pixabay.com

Curious Kids: does the Sun spin as well as the planets?

Yes, the Sun absolutely spins. In fact, everything in the universe spins. Some things spin faster than the Sun, some are slower and some things spin ‘backwards’.
Solar flares and other phenomena can have a surprising effect on our Earthly activities. Shutterstock

Solar weather has real, material effects on Earth

The sun’s phenomena, like flares, can cause solar particles to enter the Earth’s atmosphere, with material effects.
The low solar corona as viewed in extreme ultraviolet light. Bright regions are where the most energetic solar storms are born. An eruption in action can be seen in the bottom-left. NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) satellite.

Total solar eclipses reveal the dark and stormy side of the sun we never see

Scientists spend years preparing for the two-minute window of a total solar eclipse.

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