New discoveries in the field of interactions in stellar systems
Using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), a spacecraft designed to search for exoplanets, astronomers discovered an unusual quadruple star system. During another dedicated observing campaign, XRISM revealed that hot plasma signals follow the orbital motion of an otherwise invisible companion star. And a new study by Japanese scientists has shown that our Sun and numerous similar “solar twins” may have migrated together from the core of the Milky Way galaxy.
New information about the instruments used to study the Sun in our solar system
The RF observatories, SOHO, Inouye, BioSentinel, Proba-3, Parker Solar Probe, SPHEREx, PUNCH, Carruthers, Helios, and SunRISE study solar radio flares, the solar atmosphere, the influence of solar radiation on various objects, and map the solar magnetic field from the outer corona to interplanetary space.
Sunspots and Solar Flares: A Timeline of Occurrences and Research Results in 2025
The end of 2025 was marked by the appearance of a solar spot directly facing Earth, similar in parameters to the standard for assessing modern cosmic threats—the “Carrington event.” And in early November 2025, a series of powerful X-class solar flares triggered coronal mass ejections, resulting in extensive aurora borealis displays observed as far south as Mexico.
The Moon’s gravity caused periods of rapid development of life on Earth
Researchers have found that Earth’s days once became longer by more than two hours because the moon shifted thousands of miles in its orbit over two periods. The extra hours of sunlight, in turn, may have led to oxygenation, which marked a period of rapid development of life on Earth, the researchers say.
Video reports from other planets and systems? Our Sun can provide such an opportunity
Plans to use a solar lens date back to the 1970s. More recently, astronomers have proposed developing a fleet of small, lightweight CubeSats that would deploy solar sails to accelerate them to 542 AU. Once there, they would slow down and coordinate their maneuvers, creating an image and sending data back to Earth for processing.
Abnormally restless Sun: the number of solar flares has increased several times
The Sun triggers an X-class solar flare, sending coronal mass ejections toward Earth. Active sunspot AR3777 in early August 2024 triggered the most powerful of three solar flares in that period, sending another coronal mass ejection toward Earth with a possible geomagnetic storm. CMEs are powerful explosions of magnetic fields and plasma that result from solar flares on the Sun that can lead to powerful geomagnetic storms on Earth.
Rogue planets captured by the Sun are able to make their way into the solar system
The Sun scoops up rogue planets as they fly by. The Sun is capable of capturing both small planets and Jupiter-sized gas giants that stray too close; our star then keeps them at the edge of the solar system.
The Corona Paradox of the Sun
Scientists have long wondered why the hot charged particles in our sun’s atmosphere get hotter as they move away from the sun’s surface. A new study may provide an answer, finding that the super-hot nature of the sun’s outer atmosphere, or “corona,” may be linked to the intriguing behavior of small-scale waves in this hazy plasma. These waves, known to scientists as “kinetic Alfvén waves,” or “KAWs,” are wave-like oscillations of magnetic fields that manifest themselves in motions in the sun’s photosphere.
The Heliosphere – a new object for study
Scientists call the region of space that the Sun influences the heliosphere, but without an interstellar probe, they know little about its shape. The heliosphere, the region of space that the Sun influences, is more than a hundred times the distance from the Sun to Earth.
Gravity and life: new discoveries
Scientists have found geological evidence that the gravitational interaction between Mars and Earth is driving the 2.4-million-year deep-sea circulation cycle and global warming. What happens if the moon disappears? Stars can strip entire planets of their atmospheres. Discovery of retrograde orbits.