NASA's Curious Universe - Here Comes the Sun Series

Episode Date: March 11, 2024

Meet the Sun. Even if you think you know our star, our new mini series from NASA’s Curious Universe will show you why Sun science is heating up in 2024—and why NASA experts have so much more to discover. Get ready for the hair-raising experience of a total solar eclipse, and learn how anyone can pitch in through citizen science. See the vibrant and sometimes chaotic close-up details of the Sun, and hear how NASA keeps astronauts and spacecraft safe from solar outbursts. And go inside a pioneering mission to touch the Sun’s atmosphere and investigate some of its biggest unanswered questions. NASA’s Curious Universe is an official NASA podcast. Discover more adventures with NASA experts at nasa.gov/curiousuniverse

Every day you wake up, see the sun hopefully, and it's an amazing thing that we take for granted. It's time to get reacquainted with the sun. You may think you know our star, but with NASA's curious universe, you'll see the sun the way NASA scientists do. As you get closer and closer to the sun, it goes from being this beautiful, timid, yellow ball of gas to being this very exciting, very powerful, chaotic surface where something's always going on. This spring, learn what the sun is actually up to. You know, it almost looks like, to me, like volcanic eruptions.

But then it follows these paths, beautiful paths across the surface. And follow the people finding new ways to look at one of humanity's oldest companions. Scientists in a way are weird creatures. People usually look for the easy life. Scientists, they are always looking for problems. In our new miniseries, you'll learn why 2024 is a big year for sun scientists. Get ready for a total solar eclipse when the cosmic machinery of the solar system creates an unforgettable experience. An eclipse is all about being at the right place.

The hair on the back of my neck is standing up. At the right time. My heart is racing. And things literally aligning just with you. And you just get a visceral feeling in your gut that something is wrong. This does not seem natural. Learn how radiation from the sun creates dazzling displays like auroras. When you go outside at night, especially if you're far up at the poles,

you can see this sort of dancing curtain of light. Once you've seen it, it's really addictive. You want to see it again, and we want to know why and how and all the rest. And how NASA protects spacecraft and astronauts from that same radiation. Five, four, three, Plus, go inside the NASA probe. Lift-off of the mighty Delta IV heavy rocket with NASA's Parker Solar Probe. A daring mission to shed light.

That's done something no spacecraft ever has. Touch the sun and live to tell the tale. This is probably the highest risk mission NASA ever built, but still it is working so, so beautifully. And later this year, it's making its closest approach yet. Find these stories and more. Coming soon to NASA's Curious Universe. A podcast so bright, you're going to need sunglasses.