Sun | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/sun/RSS feed for SunenMon, 29 Jun 2026 16:02:32 +0000A Rare Comet Made History as the Third Known Interstellar Object to Fly Through Our Solar System. Studies Are Now Revealing the Mysterious Conditions in Which It Formedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-rare-comet-made-history-as-the-third-known-interstellar-object-to-fly-through-our-solar-system-studies-are-now-revealing-the-mysterious-the-mysterious-conditions-in-which-it-formed-180989037/In the latest research, telescope observations of 3I/ATLAS examine its chemical structure and suggest that it took shape in a peripheral region of a relatively calm planetary systemMon, 29 Jun 2026 16:02:32 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-rare-comet-made-history-as-the-third-known-interstellar-object-to-fly-through-our-solar-system-studies-are-now-revealing-the-mysterious-the-mysterious-conditions-in-which-it-formed-180989037/See a Stunning View of the Southern Lights Dancing Across the Earth Captured by a NASA Astronauthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-a-stunning-view-of-the-southern-lights-dancing-across-the-earth-captured-by-a-nasa-astronaut-180988960/Jessica Meir, commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-12 mission, shared photos and videos of a green aurora she shot while sheltering in a capsule outside the International Space StationTue, 16 Jun 2026 16:04:53 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-a-stunning-view-of-the-southern-lights-dancing-across-the-earth-captured-by-a-nasa-astronaut-180988960/See a Diamond Planet, an Exploding Star and a Black Hole Up Close in a New Immersive Virtual Reality Experiencehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/see-a-diamond-planet-an-exploding-star-and-a-black-hole-up-close-in-a-new-immersive-virtual-reality-experience-180988945/Informed by science from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and astronomers worldwide, this “documentary that you can walk through” visualizes the cosmos in a 3D introduction to the universeFri, 12 Jun 2026 16:19:35 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/see-a-diamond-planet-an-exploding-star-and-a-black-hole-up-close-in-a-new-immersive-virtual-reality-experience-180988945/A Blip on a Telescope in a Colorado Parking Lot Bolstered a Space Mission That Has Found Thousands of Planets … and Countinghttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/blip-telescope-colorado-parking-lot-bolstered-space-mission-found-thousands-planets-counting-180988801/The Kepler telescope changed how we saw the sky. It’s just one of the devices we’ve sent out beyond the reach of humans to search our solar systemThu, 04 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/blip-telescope-colorado-parking-lot-bolstered-space-mission-found-thousands-planets-counting-180988801/