Our Sun

On Jan. 19, 2019, just 161 days after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its first orbit of the Sun.

Weeks after Parker Solar Probe made the closest-ever approach to a star, the science data from the first solar encounter is just making its way into the hands of the mission's scientists.

On New Year's Day 2019, NASA's New Horizons will fly by a distant Kuiper Belt Object—and open a new chapter in how we define our place in the cosmos.

November 16 marks the premiere of a unique film and musical experience inspired by the Hubble Space Telescope’s famous Deep Field image

Just over a month into its mission, Parker Solar Probe has returned first-light data from each of its four instrument suites. These early observations – while not yet examples of the key science observations Parker Solar Probe will take closer to the Sun – show that each of the instruments is working well.

Hours before the rise of the very star it will study, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe launched from Florida Sunday to begin its journey to the Sun, where it will undertake a landmark mission.

Launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Parker Solar Probe will make its journey all the way to the Sun’s atmosphere, or corona — closer to the Sun than any spacecraft in history.

The mission will study the Sun closer than any human-made object ever has.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will swoop through the Sun’s atmosphere 24 times. The spacecraft will carry more than scientific instruments on this historic journey — it will also hold more than 1.1 million names submitted by the public to go to the Sun.

Two upcoming missions will soon take us closer to the Sun than we’ve ever been before, providing our best chance yet at uncovering the complexities of solar activity.

Scientists working with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft have uncovered a new type of magnetic event in our near-Earth environment.

Glowing in mostly purple and green colors, a new celestial phenomenon is sparking the interest of scientists, photographers and astronauts.

Whether you're doing it for the nerd cred or the pie, this week on #10Things, we've got all the ways you can celebrate #PiDay with NASA.

NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names online to be placed on a microchip aboard NASA’s historic Parker Solar Probe mission launching in summer 2018.

Inspiring views of our solar system and beyond.

SDO’s eclipse season is a three-week period that comes twice a year near the equinoxes during which Earth blocks SDO’s view of the Sun for a short while each day.

Ten things to know about the January 2018 total lunar eclipse, including where to see it, why it turns the Moon into a deep red color, and more.

The Parker Solar Probe is lowered into the 40-foot-tall thermal vacuum chamber. The chamber simulates the harsh conditions of space.

Like the waistband of a couch potato in midlife, the orbits of planets in our solar system are expanding. It happens because the Sun’s gravitational grip gradually weakens as our star ages and loses mass.

10 vision-stretching images for your computer desktop or phone wallpaper.

The Moon became a key focus point for NASA in 2017, whether it was blocking out the Sun during one of the most-viewed events in U.S. history, or reinvigorating the agency’s human space exploration plans.

In honor of NASA's first-ever mission to the heart of the solar system, this week's 10 Things is delving into the life and times of this powerful yellow dwarf star.

The transit of Venus across our Sun for about 7 hours (begining 6:09 PM Eastern US on June 5th) is an astronomical event that will not occur again until 2117.

NASA's Genesis mission is officially open for business today, as it extends its special collector arrays to catch atoms from the solar wind.

How would our Sun behave differently if it had a closely orbiting twin?