We See the Beautiful, Violent Sun

6 hours ago

Ancient civilizations observed sunspots and solar eclipses, with records like Babylonian and Chinese clay tablets.
The 1600s saw Galileo and others using telescopes to project and study sunspots on the solar surface.
In the 1800s, spectroscopy led to the discovery of helium in the sun's spectrum, named after Helios.
Early 1900s: George Ellery Hale identified sunspots as magnetic storms linked to the 11-year solar cycle.
1930: Bernard Lyot's coronagraph allowed study of the sun's corona without relying on eclipses.
Space age from the 1950s enabled satellites to measure solar wind and coronal mass ejections.
NASA and ESA observatories, like SOHO and SDO, have continuously monitored the sun since 1995 and 2010.
2021: Parker Solar Probe flew through the corona, with a 2024 pass being the closest any object has gotten to a star.
Ongoing mysteries include the corona's extreme heat, solar cycle drivers, and flare eruption mechanisms.

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