The sun is the beating heart of our solar system and supports all life on Earth. At Live Science, you can learn more about this precious star as it reaches a major peak in solar activity called a solar maximum. Whether it's the dazzling "shooting stars" discovered in the sun's atmosphere, a massive solar explosion felt on Earth, the most devastating solar storm in recorded history, or just spectacular images of the sun, our expert writers and editors will have you in awe of that bright ball in the sky with the latest sun news, features and articles.
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Latest about The Sun
Gigantic 'letter S' spotted on the sun just before a 'dark eruption' hurls a fiery shadow at Earth
A giant S-shape structure, around 10 times wider than Earth, recently appeared in the center of the sun, moments before our home star unleashed an even larger plume of plasma that later crashed into our planet.
'Cannibal' solar storm could paint auroras above 18 US states this Labor Day
Space weather experts warn that a "strong" geomagnetic storm will rock Earth on Sept. 1-2, potentially lighting the skies with vibrant auroras across large parts of North America. The disturbance is being triggered by a rare, cannibalistic ejection from the sun.
Scientists unveil most detailed photo of a solar flare ever taken
Record-breaking images from the world's largest solar telescope, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, reveal a solar flare in unprecedented detail.
Solar tornado rages on the sun as a giant plasma plume erupts
There's a giant solar tornado raging on the sun's surface, and a researcher captured it — plus a massive plasma eruption — in one spectacular image.
NASA spacecraft snaps images of lunar transit and Earth eclipse on the same day — see the photos
The Solar Dynamics Observatory saw a lunar transit and an Earth eclipse on July 25 — the first when the moon passed between it and the sun, and another when Earth did the same.
Behold, 'The Beast': Gigantic animal-like plasma plume 13 times wider than Earth hovers over the sun
Astrophotographers have snapped stunning shots of a giant shapeshifting solar prominence, dubbed "The Beast," which appeared over the sun's northeastern limb on July 12 and rained impossibly fast fire over our home star.
Parker Solar Probe captures closest-ever photos of the sun during record-breaking flight
During a record-smashing flight through the sun’s corona in Dec. 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe captured the closest-ever images of our home star. Now, NASA has finally revealed what the daredevil probe saw.
Astrophotographer snaps 'once-in-a-lifetime' shot of solar flare photobombing the ISS
An astrophotographer has captured an extremely rare and "difficult" photo of a solar flare exploding from the sun at the exact moment the International Space Station passed directly in front of our home star.
'Never been seen before': First images from new ISS solar telescope reveal subtle 'fluctuations' in sun's outer atmosphere
NASA's new "CODEX" telescope has snapped its first photos of the sun's outer atmosphere, revealing previously imperceptible changes that could help scientists better predict potentially dangerous space weather events.
