Browse Archive

  • Close-up of AR1515's X1.1 class solar flare

    Sun Releases X1.1 Class Flare

    07.07.12 - Anticipated for the past week, the sun finally releases an X1.1 class solar flare late on July 6.

  • Graphic of SUMI instrument.

    SUMI Rocket Launches Successfully

    07.05.12 - UPDATE: SUMI sounding rocket launches successfully and data results look good.

  • Active Region 1515 unleased an M6.1 class solar flare at 7:38am EDT.

    Another M-class Flare from Sunspot 1515

    07.05.12 - Today's M6.1 solar flare, originating from behemoth sunspot AR1515, is the twelfth M-class flare from that region in the last 3 days.

  • Four view of the sun's M5.3 flare on July 4, 2012 at different temperatures.

    Independence Day Fireworks

    07.04.12 - Even the sun joins in America's Fourth of July celebration, with an M5.3 solar flare.

  • SDO captures M5.6 class solar flare early on July 2, 2012.

    Solar Fireworks on July 2

    07.03.12 - On July 2, 2012, an M5.6 class solar flare erupted from the sun, peaking at 6:52 AM EDT.

  • SUMI being tested by Marshall engineer's at the National Space Science and Technology Center high bay. SUMI is slated to launch on a sounding rocket from White Sands Missile Range, N.M., on July 5.

    SUMI Taking a Second Shot at the Sun

    07.02.12 - MSFC scientists are launching SUMI a second time to find out how the sun's energy ripples, churns and flows out into the solar system.

  • Weekend aurora as seen in Badlands, South Dakota.

    UPDATE: Two CMEs Hit Earth’s Magnetosphere

    06.18.12 - Two CMEs from AR 1504 on June 13-14, delivered a combined blow over the weekend and sparked bright aurora, with some appearing at lower latitudes than usual.

  • Hinode captured this image of the January 6, 2011 solar eclipse.

    Solar Eclipse, May 20, 2012

    05.17.12 - On May 20-21, 2012 an annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor along Earth's northern Hemisphere.

  • The sun erupted with a coronal mass ejection traveling at over 900 miles per second.

    More Eruptions from Active Region 1476

    05.17.12 - The sun erupted with an M-class flare that peaked at 9:47 PM EDT on May 17, 2012. A CME also burst from the sun at 9:48 PM EDT, traveling at over 930 miles per second.

  • PBS program

    Secrets of the Sun

    04.17.12 - With new tools, scientists are striving to better grasp our star and its potentially widely destructive solar storms. Program airs April 25, 2012 on PBS.

  • Image of solar prominence eruption associated with M1.7 class solar flare.

    Giant Prominence Erupts

    04.16.12 - On April 16, 2012 a giant prominence erupted from the left/east side of the sun in association with an M1.7 class solar flare.

  • The sun, rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise, as seen by SDO.

    SDO Goes For a Spin

    04.05.12 - Twice a year engineers perform a 360 degree roll of the SDO spacecraft about the spacecraft-sun line. This roll maneuver allows the team to remove the instrument optical distortions from the solar limb.

  • Chemical Release cloud from ATREX mission

    ATREX Mission Successfully Launched from Wallops

    03.27.12 - NASA successfully launched five suborbital sounding rockets this morning from its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia as part of a study of the upper level jet stream.

  • Solar Week - March 19-23, 2012

    Study the Sun During Solar Week - March 19-23, 2012

    03.08.12 - Solar Week provides a week-long series of web-based educational activities for classrooms about our magnetic variable star, the sun, and its interactions with Earth and the solar system.

  • solar flare seen by SDO

    Big Sunspot Remains Active

    03.13.12 - On March 13, 2012, the sun erupted with an M7.9-class flare from the same region that has been producing flares and coronal mass ejections all week.