Discovery of a structurally 'inside-out' planetary nebula

International team of scientists have discovered the unusual evolution of the central star of a planetary nebula in our Milky Way. This extraordinary discovery sheds light on the ultimate fate of the sun.

Parker Solar Probe: Nasa launches mission to 'touch the Sun'

The US space agency launches a probe that aims to travel closer to the Sun than ever before.

Parker Solar Probe and the birth of the solar wind

This summer, humanity embarks on its first mission to touch the Sun: A spacecraft will be launched into the Sun's outer atmosphere.

This spacecraft will get closer to the Sun than any before it

This summer, NASA will launch the Parker Solar Probe, an impressively heat-resistant spacecraft destined to glide closer to the surface of the Sun than any spacecraft before it.

NASA Studies Our 'Middle-Aged' Sun That Is Losing Mass

As our sun gets older, it's losing mass, and so its gravitational pull becomes weaker. As a result, the orbits of all the planets in our solar system are expanding.

New Study Proposes a Giant, Space-Based Solar Flare Shield for Earth

A team of scientists from US scientists have proposed a bold idea for protecting Earth against solar flare activity - placing a giant magnetic shield in orbit.

Sun unleashes strongest solar flare in decade

The sun is nearing a low-activity point of its solar cycle, but researchers at NASA are detecting large solar flares leaving the celestial body.

Low-mass stars like our sun are born with a sibling

Did our sun have a twin when it was born 4.5 billion years ago? Almost certainly yes -- though not an identical twin.

NASA to send a solar probe to the sun in 2018

NASA will send the Parker Solar Probe to the sun in 2018. The landmark mission “will revolutionize our understanding of the sun.”

This Is Earth, Mars and Pluto as Seen From the Sun's Far Side

While orbiting the sun, NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft has taken a look back at Earth, to also find Mars and Pluto in shot.

Space mission first to observe key interaction between magnetic fields of Earth and sun.

Physicists have now provided the first major results of NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, including an unprecedented look at the interaction between the magnetic fields of Earth and the sun.

Sun may produce devastating superflares, say scientists

The Sun is capable of producing monstrous eruptions or "superflares" that can not only break down radio communication and power supplies, but also affect the Earth's ability to support life.

Black holes have a size limit of 50 billion suns

Physicists have firmed up a theoretical limit on the mass of a black hole by figuring out when it will disrupt the disc that feeds it.

Lasers could rapidly make materials hotter than the Sun

Lasers could heat materials to temperatures hotter than the centre of the Sun in only 20 quadrillionths of a second, according to new research.

Second biggest flare of the solar cycle

The leading edge of the first of two major coronal mass ejections will reach Earth at about 1:25 AM EST on the morning of March 8 (plus or minus 7 hours). Such a CME could result in a severe geomagnetic storm, causing aurora at low latitudes, with possible disruption to high frequency radio communication, global positioning systems (GPS), and power grids.