Browse Archive

  • The sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 2:14 p.m. EDT on Oct. 20, 2012.

    A New Set of Solar Fireworks

    10.20.12 - The sun emitted a significant solar flare, an M9, peaking at 2:14 p.m. EDT on Oct. 20, 2012. The associated radio blackout, an R2, has subsided, reports NOAA.

  • Voyager team receives award

    NASA's Voyager Receives ‘Breakthrough Award’

    10.08.12 - With two spacecraft on the cusp of interstellar space, NASA's Voyager mission is honored by Popular Mechanics.

  • Aurora over Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada in the early hours of Oct. 8, 2012.

    Aurora from Oct. 8, 2012 CME

    10.08.12 - The CME release on Oct. 4, 2012 has generated a G2-level geomagnetic storm on Earth resulting in aurora in upper latitudes.

  • SDO captured this eruption on Oct 4, 2012.

    Red Hot Solar Ballet

    10.04.12 - NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this minor eruption on the sun on Oct 4, 2012 as it rises and falls with the grace and polished movement of a ballet dancer.

  • Aurora in Whitehorse Yukon Canada on Oct. 1 resulting from CME on Sept. 27.

    CME Causes Colorful Aurora

    10.01.12 - The CME launched by the sun on Sept. 27 resulted in aurora dipping into the continental U.S. as far south as Maryland and Ohio on Sept. 30, 2012.

  • SDO is eclipsed by Earth twice annually. This image is from Sept. 6, 2012.

    SDO Enters Its Semiannual Eclipse Season

    09.06.12 - Twice a year, for three weeks near the equinox, SDO moves into its eclipse season -- a time when Earth blocks its view of the sun for a period of time each day

  • As part of a celebration of 35 years of flight for NASA's Voyager spacecraft, a crowd of engineers and scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

    Cheers, Voyager: 35 Years of Exploration

    09.05.12 - Thirty-five years ago today, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft launched on its mission of exploration. JPL hosted a birthday party in its honor.

  • SDO recorded this view of an M5.6 class solar flare at 9:01pm EDT on August 17, 2012.

    Emerging Sunspot Releases Mid-level Solar Flare

    08.18.12 - An active region, just beginning to rotate into view, released an M5.6 class solar flare last night at 9:01pm EDT.

  • Graphic of the space environment with the sun (right), the Earth (left) and solar satellites in between.

    Public Briefing: Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey

    08.14.12 - The National Research Council's second decadal survey in solar and space physics is scheduled for release at 1pm EDT on August 15, 2012.

  • Image of a very long, whip-like solar filament extending over half a million miles in a long arc above the sun’s surface.

    One Half Million Mile Solar Filament

    08.10.12 - SDO sees a very long, whip-like solar filament extending over half a million miles in a long arc above the sun’s surface. Part of the filament seems to break away, but its basic length and shape seem to have remained mostly intact.

  • Heliophysics scientist and 2012 recipients of NASA Honor Awards (l to r): Spiro Antiochos, Jim Klimchuk, Doug Rowland.

    Solar Scientists Receive 2012 NASA Honor Awards

    08.07.12 - Heliophysicists Spiro Antiochos, James Klimchuk, Douglas Rowland, and the SDO Science Investigation Team received Agency Honor Awards to celebrate their unique contributions to NASA's mission.

  • SDO captured this image of the M6.2 class solar flare on July 28, 2012.

    Sun Emits a Medium-Intensity Solar Flare

    07.30.12 - The sun emitted a mid-level flare, peaking at 4:55 PM EDT on July 28, 2012. This flare is classified as a M6.2 flare. M-class flares are the weakest flares that can still cause some space weather effects near Earth.

  • A balloon-borne gondola bearing NASA's HERO science mission safely lands in a Kansas field in 2005. The new HEROES flight project adapts and expands on that successful mission.

    Marshall, Goddard Researchers Become 'HEROES'

    07.19.12 - Jessica Gaskin and Steve Christe and their team are undertaking the work of "HEROES" -- building, testing and launching a complex X-ray telescope.

  • Image captured by SDO on July 19, 2012 of M7.7 class solar flare.

    Sun Sends Out Mid-Level Solar Flare

    07.19.12 - The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare (M7.7) on July 19, 2012, beginning at 1:13 AM EDT and peaking at 1:58 AM.

  • Photo of the planetary Conjunction and auroras as seen from Albany, Missouri.

    CME Arrival Results in Aurora Show

    07.15.12 - The arrival of the CME associated with the July 12, 2012 X1.4 class flare, resulted in a geomagnetic storm that caused aurora to appear in lower latitudes than usual.