A sunspot emitting a flare on the surface of the sun.
(NASA/GSFC/Solar Dynamics Observatory)
The sun is expected to reach its solar maximum in 2025. Recent auroras suggest that the maximum may be bigger than predicted.
University of Queensland
Half a dozen times in the past 10,000 years, enigmatic ‘Miyake events’ have showered Earth with cosmic rays.
Typical amounts of solar particles hitting the earth’s magnetosphere can be beautiful, but too much could be catastrophic.
Svein-Magne Tunli - tunliweb.no/Wikimedia
Every few centuries the sun blasts the Earth with a huge amount of high-energy particles. If it were to happen today, it would wreak havoc on technology.
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.
Scientists spend years preparing for the two-minute window of a total solar eclipse.
Solar winds make the Earth’s magnetic field crunch and whistle.
NASA
The Earth’s magnetic field lines whistle after solar outbursts.
NASA
Cosmic radiation is much higher today than it was during the Apollo era.