sun

  • Two-Faced: Wacky White Dwarf Keeps Its Surface Gases Separate

    Two-Faced: Wacky White Dwarf Keeps Its Surface Gases Separate

    Astronomers have discovered an ancient stellar remnant that keeps its light elements separate, in a strange first. The object is a white dwarf, an ancient core of a dead star. White dwarfs are small (hence their name, obviously), clocking in at about the size of Earth, but with a mass similar to that of the…


  • Why Do Sun-Gazing Spacecraft Get Cloudy Vision?

    Why Do Sun-Gazing Spacecraft Get Cloudy Vision?

    Earth’s host star can be quite temperamental, compelling astronomers to launch satellites and probes on missions to keep a close watch of the Sun’s massive flares. But instruments pointed towards the Sun have a tendency to acquire cloudy vision as the result of a mysterious layer that’s puzzled scientists for years.