Latest news with #PUNCH
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Jaw-Dropping Explosions on The Sun Captured in First NASA PUNCH Images
A NASA mission to observe the activity of the solar wind has returned its first images of giant coronal mass ejections (CMEs) billowing out from the Sun. Images from the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) were presented at the 246th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, showing these giant events on an unprecedented scale. "I promise you you have never seen anything quite like this," heliophysicist and PUNCH principal investigator Craig DeForest of the Southwest Research Institute said in his presentation. CMEs are huge expulsions of billions of tons of solar plasma and magnetic fields that are blasted out from the Sun, a massive release of energy and solar particles that occurs when the Sun's magnetic field lines tangle, snap, and reconnect. They often, but don't always, occur with solar flares. A halo CME is what we call it when the CME blasts right in the direction of Earth. From our perspective, the expanding ejecta looks to surround the Sun like a halo, before barreling through the Solar System at tremendous speed. "That halo CME is something you have never seen before. I'd like to call your attention to the white circle near the center of the field of view here. That circle represents the LASCO field of view; that is the largest coronagraph currently used to forecast space weather. "You've seen halo CME movies before, if you've paid attention to the science press. But you have never seen one 30 to 40 degrees from the Sun … you're seeing something that is literally washing across the entire sky of the inner Solar System as it comes toward the Earth." In this case, they were able to track a CME as it blasted through the Solar System at 4 million miles an hour until about two hours before it collided with Earth's magnetic field. These events often produce the aurora that light up Earth's polar skies, but can also interrupt communications and damage satellites, so scientists are keen to develop better space weather tracking and prediction tools. PUNCH is just beginning its planned two-year mission to record solar events in 3D, in an attempt to better understand space weather. The four probes aren't quite yet in their final positions, but the team here on Earth is testing the instruments and taking observations. "These are preliminary data. They look good now, but they are going to look fabulous once we are done with calibration later this summer," DeForest said. "This is the first of many, I'm sure, and the best is still to come." SpaceX Starship Explodes in Towering Fireball Astronomers Uncover a Massive Shaft of Missing Matter Our Galaxy's Monster Black Hole Is Spinning Almost as Fast as Physics Allows
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Spacecraft unveils 1st-ever images of sun's south pole: 'Beginning of a new era'
Plenty of spacecraft and telescopes have throughout the years been able to observe the sun up close – with plenty more missions on the way. In late-December 2024, NASA's Parker Solar Probe got closer to the sun than any spacecraft before it. Earlier that same month, the European Space Agency sent a pair of satellites toward the sun to create "solar eclipses on demand." And in March, NASA sent four small satellites on its PUNCH mission to study how the sun's outer atmosphere becomes solar wind. But no spacecraft has ever gotten a good look at either of the sun's poles. Until now. In March, a spacecraft captured the first-ever clear images of the sun's south pole, which the European Space Agency released Wednesday, June 11. 'We reveal humankind's first-ever views of the sun's pole,' Carole Mundell, director of science for the European Space Agency, said in a statement. 'These new unique views from our Solar Orbiter mission are the beginning of a new era of solar science.' Here's a look at what the Solar Orbiter captured, and why ESA officials believe it will help scientists better understand our life-giving host star. Solar Orbiter: Newly-released photos capture the sun in highest resolution ever Before you saw the picture above, any image you have ever seen of the sun was taken from around its equator. Why? Because Earth, like all the planets in our solar system, orbits the sun along a line across a flat, disc-shaped plane in the sky known as the ecliptic. That means all the spacecraft we launch into orbit tend to do so as well. But by tilting the Solar Orbiter's orbit out of that plane, the ESA was able to reveal the sun from a brand new angle. The process began in February 2025 when the Solar Orbiter passed closely by Venus for a gravitational boost that allowed the spacecraft to push itself out of the orbital plane to see the sun at a higher angle. Then on March 23, the Solar Orbiter whizzed by the sun at an angle of 17 degrees, as compared to the 7 degree-orbit of all the planets and other sun-observing spacecraft, to get some historic snapshots of the south pole. A few days prior, the Solar Orbiter was also able to view the sun from an angle of 15 degrees below the equator while using its fleet of on-board instruments to observe the sun in different wavelengths – including visible light and ultraviolet light. The images were taken as the sun's peak activity, known as its solar maximum, begins to wind down. ESA scientists believe that studying the sun's polar regions could be key to unlocking secrets about the sun's 11-year solar cycle, which can cause space weather that disrupts satellites and even causes northern lights to flourish. "The sun is our nearest star, giver of life and potential disruptor of modern space and ground power systems, so it is imperative that we understand how it works and learn to predict its behavior," Mundell said. The Solar Orbiter launched February 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with 10 scientific instruments to study the sun. Its mission? Gather images of the sun from closer than any spacecraft before it and study the hot star's polar regions to understand things like the sun's atmosphere, its solar cycle and how solar wind forms. In November, the ESA released images the Solar Orbiter obtained in March 2023 that the agency said are the highest-resolution views of the sun's surface, known as the photosphere, to date. According to the ESA, the best views from the Solar Orbiter are yet to come. In the coming years, the Solar Orbiter will continue to orbit around the sun at even higher angles, reaching as much as 33 degrees in July 2029. Scientists at the ESA also expect to receive images of the north solar pole by October that the Solar Orbiter has already taken. 'This is just the first step," Daniel Müller, Solar Orbiter project scientist for the ESA, said in a statement. "In the coming years, the spacecraft will climb further out of the ecliptic plane for ever better views of the sun's polar regions." Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spacecraft captures 1st-ever images of sun's south pole: See photos
USA Today
12-06-2025
- Science
- USA Today
Spacecraft unveils 1st-ever images of sun's south pole: 'Beginning of a new era'
Spacecraft unveils 1st-ever images of sun's south pole: 'Beginning of a new era' European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter, which launched from Florida in 2020, got a historic look at the sun's south pole. Plenty of spacecraft and telescopes have throughout the years been able to observe the sun up close – with plenty more missions on the way. In late-December 2024, NASA's Parker Solar Probe got closer to the sun than any spacecraft before it. Earlier that same month, the European Space Agency sent a pair of satellites toward the sun to create "solar eclipses on demand." And in March, NASA sent four small satellites on its PUNCH mission to study how the sun's outer atmosphere becomes solar wind. But no spacecraft has ever gotten a good look at either of the sun's poles. Until now. In March, a spacecraft captured the first-ever clear images of the sun's south pole, which the European Space Agency released Wednesday, June 11. 'We reveal humankind's first-ever views of the sun's pole,' Carole Mundell, director of science for the European Space Agency, said in a statement. 'These new unique views from our Solar Orbiter mission are the beginning of a new era of solar science.' Here's a look at what the Solar Orbiter captured, and why ESA officials believe it will help scientists better understand our life-giving host star. Solar Orbiter: Newly-released photos capture the sun in highest resolution ever ESA orbiter gets 1st look at sun's south pole Before you saw the picture above, any image you have ever seen of the sun was taken from around its equator. Why? Because Earth, like all the planets in our solar system, orbits the sun along a line across a flat, disc-shaped plane in the sky known as the ecliptic. That means all the spacecraft we launch into orbit tend to do so as well. But by tilting the Solar Orbiter's orbit out of that plane, the ESA was able to reveal the sun from a brand new angle. The process began in February 2025 when the Solar Orbiter passed closely by Venus for a gravitational boost that allowed the spacecraft to push itself out of the orbital plane to see the sun at a higher angle. Then on March 23, the Solar Orbiter whizzed by the sun at an angle of 17 degrees, as compared to the 7 degree-orbit of all the planets and other sun-observing spacecraft, to get some historic snapshots of the south pole. A few days prior, the Solar Orbiter was also able to view the sun from an angle of 15 degrees below the equator while using its fleet of on-board instruments to observe the sun in different wavelengths – including visible light and ultraviolet light. The images were taken as the sun's peak activity, known as its solar maximum, begins to wind down. ESA scientists believe that studying the sun's polar regions could be key to unlocking secrets about the sun's 11-year solar cycle, which can cause space weather that disrupts satellites and even causes northern lights to flourish. "The sun is our nearest star, giver of life and potential disruptor of modern space and ground power systems, so it is imperative that we understand how it works and learn to predict its behavior," Mundell said. What is the Solar Orbiter? The Solar Orbiter launched February 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with 10 scientific instruments to study the sun. Its mission? Gather images of the sun from closer than any spacecraft before it and study the hot star's polar regions to understand things like the sun's atmosphere, its solar cycle and how solar wind forms. In November, the ESA released images the Solar Orbiter obtained in March 2023 that the agency said are the highest-resolution views of the sun's surface, known as the photosphere, to date. Solar Orbiter also got a look at sun's north pole According to the ESA, the best views from the Solar Orbiter are yet to come. In the coming years, the Solar Orbiter will continue to orbit around the sun at even higher angles, reaching as much as 33 degrees in July 2029. Scientists at the ESA also expect to receive images of the north solar pole by October that the Solar Orbiter has already taken. 'This is just the first step," Daniel Müller, Solar Orbiter project scientist for the ESA, said in a statement. "In the coming years, the spacecraft will climb further out of the ecliptic plane for ever better views of the sun's polar regions." Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@
India Today
12-06-2025
- Science
- India Today
Video: Nasa's Punch shows huge solar eruption streaming out from the Sun
Scientists have released the first striking images from Nasa's Punch (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, which launched in March 2025 to change our understanding of the Sun's outer atmosphere and its impact on the solar PUNCH mission consists of four suitcase-sized satellites orbiting in a synchronised formation, working together as a single 'virtual instrument' to capture three-dimensional images of solar newly unveiled images reveal colossal solar eruptions, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), streaming outward from the Sun and traversing the inner solar system. In one video sequence, a CME appears as an expanding 'halo' around the Sun, dramatically illustrating the immense scale and energy of these solar storms. The PUNCH satellites' advanced wide-field imagers allow scientists to track these eruptions in unprecedented detail, following their journey from the solar corona—the Sun's outer atmosphere—into the solar wind that fills our solar system. One unique aspect of the PUNCH mission is its ability to provide a continuous, global 3D perspective, which is essential for understanding and forecasting space images also show the field of view of LASCO C3, an earlier coronagraph still used for space weather predictions, helping scientists compare new and legacy data. advertisementLate in the sequence, the impact of a CME at Earth is visible as a sudden brightening, caused by auroras and radiation effects that momentarily affect the PUNCH cameras.'These preliminary movies show that PUNCH can actually track space weather across the solar system and view the corona and solar wind as a single system,' said Dr. Craig DeForest, principal investigator for mission's data will help scientists better predict space weather events, which can disrupt communications, threaten satellites, and create spectacular auroras on PUNCH enters full operation, even more detailed and comprehensive observations are expected in the coming Reel
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
What is the Vandenberg Space Force Base? 4 things to know about California rocket launches
When spaceflight enthusiasts think about catching a rocket launch, the first place to come to mind, more than likely, is Florida. The Sunshine State is brimming with a near-constant schedule of crewed and uncrewed launches from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, both located on Florida's Space Coast. Catching the sight of a SpaceX or NASA vehicle getting off the ground has become so popular among tourists, that the U.S. space agency even sells tickets for spectators. But all the way across the U.S. on the West Coast, plenty of spaceflights are launching from California. In Santa Barbara County, a military base regularly hosts rocket launches that span the civil and commercial arenas. Rocket launches have become so well-known that spectators have established popular locations in both Southern California and neighboring Arizona to watch the spacecraft soar into orbit. Here's everything to know about the Vandenberg Space Force Base, the only site for rocket launches in California. California rocket launches: Here's a look at the upcoming schedule from Vandenberg The Vandenberg Space Force Base is a rocket launch site in Santa Barbara County in Southern California. Established in 1941, the site was previously known as the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Though it's a military base, the site also hosts both civil and commercial space launches for entities like NASA and SpaceX. Space Launch Delta 30, a unit of the U.S. Space Force, is responsible for managing the launch operations at Vandenberg, as well as the missile tests that take place at the base. Vandenberg hosts a regular cadence of weekly rocket launches, most from its Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E.) In the month of May, a total of six launches got off the ground from Vandenberg, all of which were SpaceX missions to deploy Starlink internet satellites into orbit. This year, the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, gave SpaceX the greenlight to increase its Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg from 36 per year to 50. But it's not just SpaceX that launches from Vandenberg. In March, NASA contracted a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to boost both its SPHEREx space telescope and small sun-observing PUNCH satellites into orbit following a launch from the base. And in late-April, Texas spaceflight company Firefly Aerospace attempted to launch prototype satellites into orbit for Lockheed Martin from the base. SpaceX's Starlink missions have become by far the most frequent and common rocket launches from Southern California. Two Starlink deployments have taken place so far in June, with a third and fourth on the way in less than a week. The company's Famous two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, one of the world's most active, has become crucial in regularly deploying batches of the internet-beaming Starlink satellites into what's called low-Earth orbit – an altitude that allows for things like satellites to circle Earth fairly quickly. Owned by SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Starlink is a constellation of more than 7,000 satellites that provide internet service to customers around the world. SpaceX has spent more than six years delivering the satellites to orbit with a regular cadence of rocket launches from both Florida and California. Following the delivery and deployment of the satellites from California, the Falcon 9 rocket's booster aims to land on a SpaceX drone ship, nicknamed "Of Course I Still Love You," in the Pacific Ocean. This allows for SpaceX personnel to recover the booster so it can be reused in future spaceflights. Because Vandenberg is an active military base, the launch complex does not host public viewings of launches. But if conditions are clear, rocket launches from the Vandenberg Space Force Base can be viewed from several locations as far as Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. The city of Lompoc in Santa Barbara County is filled with places to catch a rocket launch. The city's tourism bureau, Explore Lompoc, even maintains a list with suggested viewing locations. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Where are California rocket launches? What to know about Vandenberg
