Corona

NASA publishes its Astronomy Picture of Day on a daily basis, featuring stunning photographs of celestial bodies captured by astrophotographers from around the world, and they always leave us mesmerized. At the center of our solar system is the Sun, a hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium. It is about 150 million kilometers away from Earth and is the largest object in our solar system, big enough to fit nearly 1.3 million Earths in it. According to NASA, the Sun is about 4.5 billion years old and it is one of the main…

With no proper way to summarize what just happened, no possible explanation that could convey the emotions of one of the most ridiculous endings in California high school basketball history, Corona Centennial senior Jared McCain kept it simple.“I love you,” McCain exclaimed to senior teammate Aaron McBride, in a haze of celebration. “So much.”One mistake from seeing his team’s dreams of three-peating for the Open Division crown extinguished, Corona Centennial’s Aaron McBride was in the right place at the right time. St.…

Nine years into their career, a lineup change has transformed Portuguese space-rockers Solar Corona. With saxophonist Julius Gabriel making way for synth player/dub impresario Nuno Loureiro, much of the sprawl that characterised the two albums they released in 2019 (including the completely improvised Saint-Jean-de-Luz) has receded. As bassist José Roberto Gomes, who also works for Lovers & Lollypops, one of Portugal’s biggest indie labels, says: “The songs this time are more simple, as we tried to preserve the focus…

Solar Orbiter, the European Space Agency (ESA) mission that launched in 2020 and which includes the closest camera to the sun, has made a second close approach of our star and has captured stunning footage of the sun’s corona. The spacecraft made its closest approach on 12 October at 21:12 EST, when it came within less than one-third of the distance between Earth and the sun. Using its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument it captured this video of the corona on October 13. The corona is the outermost layer of…

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A new analysis of six spikes in Earth’s historic radiation levels indicates the events may not be due to typical solar flares, as previously thought.A team of researchers looked at a trove of data—comprising thousands of years and recorded in radiocarbon levels in tree rings—that suggested that the events could be chalked up to some unknown type of cosmic storm. The team’s research is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A.Whatever their origins, the energetic spikes in Earth’s radiation levels are due to extreme…

The Parker Solar Probe, one of the most ambitious missions launched by NASA, has become the first spacecraft ever to pass through the Sun's atmosphere, venturing briefly into a region known as the corona. The historic feat was achieved in April but analysis of the data has confirmed the achievement only now. During its journey inside the atmosphere of our star, the solar probe had to withstand extreme heat and radiation. However, it is likely to help scientists understand better how the Sun actually works.On April 28,…

Echoes of light bouncing off thick clouds of material around active black holes are helping astronomers better understand the wacky space-time in the immediate vicinity of these extreme objects.  Within the Milky Way, astronomers have just identified eight new examples of these echoing black holes. Previously, only two had been identified within our galaxy.Having such an expanded number so close to home is allowing a much closer study of these fascinating objects, with the unique insight they can offer into black hole…

The Sun is a mysterious place. Its atmosphere gets much hotter the farther one goes from the Sun's blazing surface. In fact, the outermost part of the Sun (corona) burns at a temperature rising to one million degrees Celsius, while just 1,500 kilometres below, the surface simmers at 5,500 degrees Celsius. The biggest challenge in unravelling this mystery is that astronomers are unable to send probes close enough to the Sun to get a clear picture of what's going on there. To overcome this challenge, Indian scientists used…

WhatsApp can now be used to download your COVID-19 certificate online with the government introducing another easy way to get it. All WhatsApp users can follow a simple method to instantly download their COVID-19 vaccination certificate. This method has been introduced via the MyGov Corona Helpdesk chatbot on WhatsApp. This bot was introduced in March last year to help prevent misinformation around the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this year, the MyGov Corona Helpdesk bot also introduced the ability to find nearby…