Solar Surface

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  NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Achieves Closest Sun Flyby Ever on December 24

  NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will make its closest-ever flyby of the sun on December 24, 2024, passing within 3.8 million miles of the solar surface at a speed of 430,000 mph. This marks the 22nd close encounter of the spacecraft’s mission, which aims to provide unprecedented insights into the sun’s corona and other solar phenomena. Despite extr...

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  Chiron's Unique Surface and Coma: Key Insights from Recent Space Research

  Recent research has provided critical insights into Chiron, a celestial body between Jupiter and Neptune. Through observations by the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists discovered volatile ices and gases such as carbon dioxide and methane on its surface. Chiron’s gaseous coma offers researchers the opportunity to study gases from below its su...

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  NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Captured with Dust Layers by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

  NASA’s retired InSight Mars lander has been spotted by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in a recent image taken on October 23, 2024. The image, captured using the HiRISE camera, shows dust accumulation on InSight’s solar panels, now matching the reddish-brown Martian surface. This observation provides insights into wind patterns and dust m...

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  Mars Dust Storms May Be Predictable Based on Surface Heating Patterns

  A new study suggests warm days on Mars often precede dust storms, with researchers analysing data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The findings show 78% of storms correlate with increased solar heating, particularly in northern regions of the planet. Scientists have developed an algorithm predicting certain storm types with 64% confidence, ...

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  ISRO Gets Government Nod for Shukrayaan Venus Orbiter Mission and Chandrayaan-4

  India’s Venus Orbiter Mission (VOM) and Chandrayaan-4 mission, approved by the government in September 2024, mark historic steps toward India's space vision for 2047. VOM will study Venus's surface, atmosphere, and solar interaction, while Chandrayaan-4 will return lunar samples from the South Pole. These missions are set to advance technology an...

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  NASA Europa Clipper Advances Toward Jupiter’s Moon, Instruments Successfully Deployed

  NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, launched in October 2024, is journeying toward Jupiter’s moon Europa to study its icy surface and hidden ocean. Currently over 13 million miles from Earth, the spacecraft has successfully deployed its solar arrays, magnetometer boom, and radar antennas. It will use a gravity assist from Mars in March 2025 to ad...

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  Solar Orbiter Sends High-Resolution Images of Sun’s Surface, Unveiling New Details

  The Solar Orbiter spacecraft has sent back the sharpest images of the sun’s surface, captured from 74 million kilometres away. These high-resolution images reveal the sun’s dynamic surface features, including granular patterns and sunspots. The spacecraft’s instruments also provided detailed maps of the sun’s magnetic fields, shedding light...

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  NASA's Solar Orbiter Captures Highest-Resolution Images Of The Sun To Date

  The Solar Orbiter mission has provided the most detailed images yet of the Sun's visible surface, capturing stunning views of sunspots and plasma flows.

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  NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Makes Final Venus Flyby Before Historic Sun Encounter

  NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, launched in 2018, will make its final Venus flyby on Nov. 6. This manoeuvre will bring the spacecraft into a new orbit, allowing it to approach within 3.8 million miles of the sun, closer than any human-made object has been. While the probe’s primary mission is to study the sun, its instruments have captured rare data...

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  Parker Solar Probe Prepares for Closest Approach to Sun After Last Venus Flyby

  NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will complete its final Venus gravity assist on 6 November, altering its path to make an unprecedented 3.86-million-mile approach to the sun on 24 December. The manoeuvre will allow Parker to pass closer than any human-made object to the sun, where it will study solar activity. Earlier flybys also revealed surprising det...

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  Scientists Discover Mysterious Structures Hidden Under The Surface of Mars

  The findings revealed that the the Martian mantle's active processes may be fueling the growth of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system.

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  NASA Might Have Spotted Highest Number of Sunspots in Over 20 Years

  On August 8, 2024, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) may have documented a record-breaking number of sunspots in a single day, marking a significant event in Solar Cycle 25. These sunspots, which are dark, cooler areas on the Sun’s surface caused by intense magnetic activity, play a crucial role in the Sun's behaviour and have a direct impa...

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  James Webb Space Telescope Discoveries Challenge Theories About Asteroid Psyche’s Origin

  Recent findings from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have introduced new uncertainties about asteroid 16 Psyche. Known for its high iron content, Psyche was previously considered a potential remnant of a protoplanet, providing a valuable opportunity to study the early solar system. However, JWST has detected hydrated minerals on its surface, ...

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  NASA's Parker Solar Probe Unveils New Insights into Solar Heating Mystery

  NASA's Parker Solar Probe has delivered groundbreaking insights into one of the sun's most perplexing mysteries: why its outer atmosphere, or corona, is significantly hotter than its surface. This phenomenon, known as the "coronal heating mystery," has puzzled scientists for decades. The Parker Solar Probe, which is the fastest human-made object, h...

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  Scientists Discover Strange Planet That May Be "Melting From Within"

  Researchers described the planet as "Io on steroids". Io, Jupiter's third largest moon, is the most volcanic body in our solar system, with every inch of its surface covered in lava plains.