Astronomy, Sun | featured news

A glimpse beyond our solar system reveals the neighborhood just outside the sun's influence is different and stranger than expected, scientists reported Tuesday....

A huge sunspot unleashed a blob of charged plasma Thursday that space weather watchers predict will blast past the Earth on Sunday. Satellite operators and power companies are keeping a close eye on the incoming cloud, which could distort the Earth’s magnetic field and disrupt radio communications, especially at higher latitudes.

Warming up on its solar cycle, the sun uncorked a a strong solar storm that reached Earth on Monday, federal scientists said, posing a threat to satellites and radio communications, although no interruptions had been reported to date.

The sun unleashed another major solar flare Wednesday, a solar storm so powerful it could spawn dazzling northern lights displays that could be visible from even New York City. The solar flare erupted at 6:23 p.m. EST (2323 GMT), letting loose a wave of charged particles that is aimed straight at Earth and should arrive in the next few days.

Earth braces for cosmic tsunami Tuesday night as tons of plasma from massive solar flare heads directly toward the planet ...

A rare sun-like star that is both young and relatively close to Earth has been found to be harboring an even weirder object - a failed star locked in a close orbit around its host, according to a new study.

Astronomers announced this week they found a water-rich and relatively nearby planet that's similar in size to Earth.

The world's most populous nations will gaze skywards on Wednesday as the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st Century lays a carpet of darkness across India and China, from Mumbai to Shanghai.

A distant "sun" residing in the constellation Aquila has become the smallest star known to host a planet.