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NASA reports that a recent lull in the sun’s activity did not prevent the Earth from absorbing more solar energy than could escape back into space. This means that climate change is mainly caused by human activity–not the sun, as some people would like to think.

This imbalance (more energy coming in than leaving) is what drives global warming, and because it occurred during a period when the sun was emitting comparatively low levels of energy, it means we have to clean up our act and curb greenhouse gases. read more

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A passing coronal mass ejection from the sun caused an illumination response from an otherwise invisible object near Mercury that was captured both by NASA’s Heliospheric Imager 1 satellite and by the SECCHI-A spacecraft. Initially, SECCHI staff explained it as a video afterimage of the planet on the previous day, but other imagery of Mercury taken during other coronal mass ejections do not show the same effect, and the explanation has since been removed from their website. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s wrong, as a similar ‘object’ has been observed near Mars by SECCHI-B. It could well be that what is being seen is an after-image of a previous day’s run, just as NASA says.
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Can the sun cause cold weather? Cold winters that have dumped tons of snow on areas like the Northeastern US may have their origins in the sun’s varying ultraviolet emissions. Recent satellite data shows that the sun’s UV output is far more changeable than scientists had previously thought, and these changes lead to warmer winters in some places and colder winters in others.
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A few hours after a comet discovered by amateur astronomers on September 30 impacted the sun, a massive coronal mass ejection took place directly opposite the object’s impact point. Previously, solar scientists would have assumed that this wasa coincidence, but observation of another sungrazer on July 5 revealed significant interactions with the sun’s atmosphere.

So it now seems possible that comets–the largest of which are tiny in comparison to the sun–can nevertheless cause sreactions from the solar disk. Scientists at NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory will be studying this matter with interest.
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