Browse Archive

  • Solar Week 2011 Promo

    Students Invited to Study the Sun During Solar Week

    10.19.11 - 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.

  • Merged stills from the video show the approach of the comet on the right and the CME on the left.

    Incoming Comet; Outgoing CME

    10.04.11 - On October 2, 2011, an exceptionally bright comet headed toward the sun and disintegrated; moments later a large coronal mass ejection (CME) blew off the other side of the sun.

  • An X1.4 class flare erupted from the sun, peaking at 7:01 AM ET on September 22, 2011.

    A Solar Flare and a CME

    09.22.11 - Our increasingly active Sun produced a large CME yesterday evening and an X1.4 class flare this morning. This increased solar activity is a normal byproduct as the sun approaches solar max.

  • Screen capture from video of one of six CMEs that blasted off the Sun in a 24 hour period.

    Six CMEs in 24 Hours

    09.20.11 - The sun let loose with at least six coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from 7 PM ET on September 18, 2011 until 1 PM on September 19. One may impact Earth and spark aurora tomorrow.

  • View of aurora was taken from ISS on September 17, 2011.

    Aurora From ISS Orbit

    09.22.11 - This view of the aurora from Earth orbit was taken from the International Space Station as it crossed over the southern Indian Ocean on September 17, 2011.

  • The northern lights on Sept. 10 were bright enough to reflect in the aptly named Northern Lights Lake below.

    Solar Activity Subsiding - Auroras Ablaze

    09.12.11 - After last week's flurry of strong flares from sunspot 1283, solar activity is subsiding as this sunspot rotates over the sun's western limb. Aurora from last week's solar activity will be dancing in the sky for the next several day.

  • A third flare erupted from sunspot 1283 on September 7 at 6:36 PM ET

    Sunspot 1283 Is Bristling With Flares-UPDATED

    09.08.11 - The first of what will likely be several CME hits occurred this morning sparking a strong geomagnetic storm. Additional hits will occur over the weekend.

  • Sunspot 1283 erupted with another flare on 09.06.11 that peaked at 6:20 PM ET.

    X2.1 Solar Flare and CME

    09.07.11 - Sunspot 1283 erupted with another flare yesterday that peaked at 6:20 PM ET. This was an X2.1 class flare, some four times stronger than the earlier flare.

  • The flare is seen here near the center of this image from SDO in 171 angstrom.

    M5.3 Solar Flare Eruption-CME

    09.06.11 - At 9:35 PM ET on Labor Day, the sun emitted an Earth-directed M5.3 class flare as measured by the GOES satellite.

  • Engineers at JHUAPL inspect Radiation Belt Storm Probe A in the clean room.

    RBSP - Mission Status

    08.15.11 - What were once bare black octagonal boxes are now recognizable as full-fledged spacecraft, each laden with propulsion systems, power and avionics systems. NASA has approved a new launch readiness date of August 15, 2012.

  • 131 angstrom X7 class flare on August 9, 2011.

    Sun Unleashes X6.9 Class Flare

    08.09.11 - On Aug. 9, 2011, the sun unleashed an X6.9 class flare. Though not Earth directed, we may experience radio and communications blackouts.

  • Following an M9.3 solar flare, sunspot 1261 release a Earth-directed coronal mass ejection.

    Sun Packs a Double Punch-UPDATED

    08.08.11 - The August 5, 2011 arrival of the combined August 3 CMEs caused many photographers in the northern U.S. and Europe to race outside with their cameras to record the colorful skies. They were not disappointed.

  • SDO 193 angstrom image of July 30, 2011 M9.3-class solar flare.

    Friday Night M9.3 Light

    08.01.11 - Active solar region 1261 let loose with a short-lived M9.3 flare on Friday Night. No Earth directed affects are expected.

  • Zoom of last Atlantis solar transit on July 21, 2011.

    Last Picture of Atlantis in Space

    07.21.11 - Astrophotographer Thierry Legault captured what might be the last picture of Atlantis in space--and it was a solar transit.

  • This Black Brant V rocket launched at 10 AM ET on July 10, 2011 for a five-minute journey to study currents in Earth's ionosphere.

    Launch Postponed - Next Attempt 2012

    07.15.11 - NASA is postponing the launch of two suborbital sounding rockets from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on July 15 to no earlier than 2012.