All Articles Tagged As: corona

Warm coronal loops offer clue to mysteriously hot solar atmosphere (6/2/2008)

Scientists at NASA reveal a new understanding of the mysterious mechanism responsible for heating the outer part of the solar atmosphere, the corona, to million degree temperatures. ...> Full Article

Academics shed new light on the Sun (4/14/2008)

New insights into solar activity have been revealed thanks to research from a group of Cambridge academics ...> Full Article

Sun's corona is both hot and kinky (3/8/2008)

Astrophysicists are having a heated debate over the wave structure of the Sun's Corona - a debate which may one day influence solar weather forecasting and the theory behind fusion reactors. ...> Full Article

The new solar cycle starts with a 'bang' (1/15/2008)

The appearance of a very special solar spot on the sun surface a few days ago, signalled to scientists around the world that a new solar cycle had begun. This solar spot also produced two solar blasts. ...> Full Article

Sunspot Is Harbinger Of New Solar Cycle, Increasing Risk For Electrical Systems (1/9/2008)

A new 11-year cycle of heightened solar activity, bringing with it increased risks for power grids, critical military, civilian and airline communications, GPS signals and even cell phones and ATM transactions, showed signs it was on its way late Thursday when the cycle's first sunspot appeared in the sun's Northern Hemisphere, NOAA scientists said. ...> Full Article

The Sun's Coming Back, and We'll Be Ready for It! (12/10/2007)

The Sun is minimally active right now, but this quiet state of affairs won't last for long. Over the next few years, the number of solar flares and eruptions known as coronal mass ejections will increase until reaching solar maximum in 2011 or 2012. Such eruptions can impact Earth, disrupting satellites, communications, and even power grids. Some predict the next solar cycle will be the most intense in 50 years. As a result, scientists are striving to understand the mechanism behind solar eruptions in hopes of eventually being able to predict them in a space "weather forecast." ...> Full Article

Instrument to make detailed measurements of sun activity (12/8/2007)

Tom Nichols, a mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin in Palo Alto, works on the HMI. ...> Full Article

Scientists Find Elusive Waves in Solar Corona (8/31/2007)

Scientists for the first time have observed elusive oscillations in the sun's corona, known as Alfvén waves, that transport energy outward from the surface of the sun. The discovery may give researchers more insight into solar magnetic fields, eventually leading to a better understanding of how the sun affects Earth's atmosphere and the entire solar system. ...> Full Article