One way to track the solar cycle is by counting the number of sunspots, which are dark, cooler patches on the Sun’s surface.

Massive solar flares, graceful eruptions of solar material, and an enormous sunspot make up some of the imagery captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory in 2013 and 2014. A year ago this weekend, ...

The massive sunspot that sparked an "extreme" geomagnetic storm in May 2024 unleashed hundreds of other dangerous solar ...

The agencies that track sunspot activity say we’re now in peak solar activity, which has a big impact on the amount and southward extent of the Northern Lights. On Oct. 15, 2024 NOAA, NASA and the ...

The giant solar explosions of energy and light aren't over yet. Officials said on Tuesday that the sun just emitted another major solar flare – and that it's the strongest one so far in the current ...

Despite only being halfway through our current solar cycle, the sun is showing signs of starting another. The sun is approaching the solar maximum of its current 11-year solar cycle, meaning that it ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky. The night sky in Wisconsin glows with the Northern Lights as ...

The Northern Lights may ramp up in intensity for the next 50 years as the sun potentially enters a new long-term phase of heightened activity, suggests a new study by solar scientists. The night sky ...

Every morning, astronomer Steve Padilla takes a short walk from his home to the base of a tower that soars 150 feet above the ground. Tucked in the San Gabriel Mountains, about an hour’s drive north ...

Earth is about to see three total solar eclipses in just under two years, with each successive path of totality moving west ...

Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces from Imperial College London.View full profile Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum ...