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
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.
We don’t know why the solar corona is so hot.
wikipedia
Solar cells make electricity directly from sunlight, but how do they do it?
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
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?
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’.
It’s true the Sun often looks orange, but it isn’t really orange. It is white.
Flickr/Eyesplash
While the world gathers to see an eclipse, what’s the rest of nature doing?
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.
It’s true that here on Earth, if you want to burn something you need oxygen. But the Sun is different. It is not burning with the same kind of flame you would have on Earth if you burned a candle.
Even if we can prevent a global warming apocalypse, our planet won’t be safe forever – the sun will one day expand. So should we try to move the Earth to a wider orbit?