Solar maximum news, features and articles

September could be a prime time to see vibrant auroras, thanks to a quirk of Earth's tilt that leads to more intense geomagnetic activity around the equinox.

The average number of visible dark patches on the sun's surface in August was higher than any other month since September 2001. The final count was more than twice as high as experts initially predicted it would be.

On Aug. 8, NASA scientists may have spotted a record number of sunspots when hundreds of individual spots were estimated to occur within 24 hours.

Auroras may once again be visible in northern parts of the U.S. this weekend as Earth braces for impact from a powerful coronal mass ejection.

When the sun reaches its period of peak activity, known as solar maximum, our star's magentic field will suddenly reverse. But why does it happen, and will it impact Earth?

New simulations suggest that the origins of the sun's explosive storms could lie much closer to its surface than first thought.

Vibrant auroras that were recently observed by millions of people across the globe were some of the most widespread in the last five centuries, NASA says. The light shows may have also reached the equator.

The strongest solar flare in half a decade just launched off the sun from the same sunspot group that triggered dazzling auroras last weekend. But don't expect northern lights this time around.

Between Friday (May 10) and Sunday (May 12), people across the world were treated to stunning aurora displays as Earth's magnetic field experienced its biggest disturbance since October 2003. The supercharged storm also messed with satellites and caused power grid irregularities.

Coronal moss grows, solar rain falls and plasma eruptions rear their gargantuan heads in this fiery landscape of the sun's outer atmosphere, taken by ESA's Solar Orbiter.