• Study suggests ancient interstellar cloud collision shrank heliosphere to 0.22 AU, substantially impacting Earth

    ByMehak Kalra

    A new study published in Nature Astronomy provides evidence that our solar system passed through a dense interstellar cloud 2 – 3 million years ago, exposing Earth to higher cosmic radiation and altering the climate. The discovery suggests that the Sun’s location in space might shape Earth’s history more than it was previously considered.

  • New data show heliosphere is nearly round and symmetrical

    ByTW

    New data covering an entire 11-year solar activity cycle suggest that Sun and planets in our solar system are surrounded by a giant, spherical system of magnetic field from the Sun, calling into question the current view of the solar magnetic fields trailing behind…

  • A new view of the Solar System: astrophysical jets driven by the Sun

    ByTW

    As the sun skims through the galaxy, it flings out charged particles in a stream of plasma called the solar wind, and the solar wind creates a bubble extending far outside the solar system known as the heliosphere. For decades, scientists have visualized the heliosphere