solar activity Archives

Artist’s illustration showing part of the Sun at left, Earth and its magnetosphere at right, and several spacecraft in between. The spacecraft are networked together by curving, glowing green lines.

Vast Space, Sparse Data: An AI Answer to Twin Space Weather Challenges

by Savvas Raptis, Manolis K. Georgoulis, Mikhail Sitnov, Anthony Sciola and Simon Wing 11 June 202611 June 2026

Modern machine learning and AI methods can help heliophysics researchers and space weather forecasters overcome limitations from a dearth of observations and the infrequency of extreme events.

A video shows a blue circle against a darker blue background. Within the circle, waves of pale blue billow out from the center and create static throughout the circle.

News

Solar Flare Spotlights the Martian Ionosphere

by Damond Benningfield 27 March 202627 March 2026

A “lucky” linkup between orbiters helped scientists study how the Red Planet’s ionosphere responds to solar events.

Broken-up ice sits on the surface of an ocean. A snowy mountain, a glacier, and a blue sky are in the distance.

News

Sediments Offer an Extended History of Fast Ice

by Taylor Mitchell Brown 12 February 202612 February 2026

Scientists used sediments to create a millennia-long archive of Antarctic fast ice. Along the way, they discovered that the freezing and thawing of this enigmatic ice appear to be linked to solar cycles.

Side-by-side drawings with concentric circles representing the Sun. In each diagram, several dark spots or clusters of dark spots have been marked to denote sunspot locations. The sketches have a date and time written on them.

News

Sunspot Drawings Illuminate 400 Years of Solar Activity

by Daniella García Almeida 17 December 202517 December 2025

A new computational framework is helping scientists sift through centuries of scientific illustration of the Sun’s spotty surface.

A rocket launches in front of a clear sky

Research & Developments

Trio of Space Weather Satellites Take Flight

by Kimberly M. S. Cartier 24 September 202524 September 2025

These three satellites will that study the solar wind and its impacts.

A bright ring of light surrounds the North Pole in a black-and-white composite satellite image over the Northern Hemisphere, with land areas outlined in black.

Research Spotlights

U.K. Space Weather Prediction System Goes Operational

by Saima May Sidik 23 June 202523 June 2025

Officials now have access to a suite of models they can use to head off damage to critical infrastructure.

Four seemingly identical, octagonal, disklike structures, each with several various thin antennas extending outward at various angles, appear to be floating in a closely spaced cluster in space. In the background, on the right side of the image, is the round shape of the planet Earth, encircled by translucent, overlapping blue and purple lines.

Research Spotlights

New Insights into an Enigmatic Form of Magnetic Reconnection

by Sarah Stanley 11 April 202511 April 2025

A new study deepens understanding of magnetic field behavior recently discovered by NASA in Earth’s magnetosphere.

Editors' Highlights

Fast Flows in Earth’s Magnetotail Surveyed by NASA Satellites

by Mary Hudson 9 April 20253 April 2025

A survey of high-speed electron flow observed by NASA satellites in the Earth’s magnetotail is presented and related to the process of magnetic field line reconnection and particle acceleration.