Solar

March 19, 2022

Time for a Change: 2022 March Equinox

YAY! Another change of season is here. The 2022 March Equinox happens on March 20, 2022 at 15:33 UTC (11:33 am EDT • 8:33 am PDT)
May 24, 2021

The May-June Eclipse Season for 2021

Every year we get a collection of 4 to 7 eclipses somewhere on Earth, either lunar, solar, partial, or total. These eclipses come in seasons, a 35-day period with typically two eclipses sometimes three. There are usually two seasons per year. 2021 has two.
May 20, 2012

05.20.12 – “Ring of Fire” Solar Eclipse

During the annular eclipse the Moon will travel in front of the Sun blocking most of its light—except for what looks like a 'Ring of Fire' around the Moon's edge. (Image Credit: Steele Hill)
April 24, 2012

Aurora over Giant’s Causeway and Ballintoy Harbour, Co. Antrim

Gorgeous aurora captured by Martin McKenna! Last night’s geomagnetic storm (April 24, 2012) put on quite a show and this was not even a large event. This is near the childhood homes of some of our esteemed Irish solar physics colleagues!
April 22, 2012

A Prominence Eruption Sends a CME to Mercury

On April 22, 2012, filament material uncurled as an erupting prominence around sunspot group AR11463. There was a C1.8 solar flare and the resulting eruption produced a SCORE-C CME detected by SOHO/LASCO C2 at 15:30 UT.
April 17, 2012

Beautiful Eruptions from the East Limb of the Sun

An eruption of plasma from just behind the solar limb observed by SDO with the 304 Angstrom camera.This shows material at temperatures around 60,000-80,000 Kelvin. This produced a CME that went out the left side (East) of the Sun starting around 2 UT. At ~1000 km/s the CME has a SCORE O (for ordinary). NASA produced a computer model predicting the CME will impact STEREO Behind on 4/17 at 7:40 UT (but not Earth).