An ingenious new technique for viewing the previously hidden side of the Sun could improve space weather forecasting. This story includes images and video of solar hot spots on the far side of the sun and, as an added bonus, video of a shadow cast by comet Hale-Bopp when it was on the far side of the sun in 1997. 1999 Solar flares show their true colors - New research points to a common mechanism for spectral behavior in solar flares. Using a technique developed for examining how gamma-ray bursts evolve, NASA scientists are beginning to understand exactly how a solar flare changes over time. Now, a trio of scientists says it's because the corona is heated by incessant mini-explosions, called microflares.
Story includes realvideo of a coronal mass ejection.
A unique camera that will take some of the first pictures of Earth's invisible magnetic shield is being prepared for flight. Up, Up, and away to the Magnetosphere - A space weather rocket blasted off from a launch pad in Norway early this morning. A NASA rocket is poised to blast off from Norway to explore a region of Earth's atmosphere directly exposed to the solar wind. A NASA rocket is poised to blast off from Norway to study space weather high above the Arctic circle. The mission has been in development for more than three years.