The Solar Physics Group at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center was formed in the early 1970's in conjunction with the Apollo Skylab Mission. These pages contain an overview of solar physics itself along with highlights of our own work, our current projects, and possible future missions.

Sun Facts

Solar radius = 695,990 km = 432,470 mi = 109 Earth radii

Solar mass = 1.989 10³⁰ kg = 4.376 10³⁰ lb = 333,000 Earth masses

Solar luminosity (energy output of the Sun) = 3.846 10³³ erg/s

Surface temperature = 5770 K = 9,930º F

Surface density = 2.07 10^-7 g/cm³ = 1.6 10^-4 Air density

Surface composition = 70% H, 28% He, 2% (C, N, O, ...) by mass

Central temperature = 15,600,000 K = 28,000,000º F

Central density = 150 g/cm³ = 8 × Gold density

Central composition = 35% H, 63% He, 2% (C, N, O, ...) by mass

Solar age = 4.57 10⁹ yr  

New/Updated Pages

The Sunspot Cycle - Updated 2009/08/03

Sunspot Cycle Predictions - Updated 2009/08/03

Sunspot Areas/Positions Database - Updated 2009/08/03

Papers -  Updated 2009/06/05 (Falconer et al. 2009)

Papers -  Updated 2009/06/05 (Falconer, Moore, and Gary 2008)

Papers -  Updated 2009/06/05 (Falconer, Moore, and Gary 2006)

Papers -  Updated 2009/06/05 (Falconer, Moore, and Gary 2002)

Papers -  Updated 2009/04/10 (Gary 2009)

Papers -  Updated 2009/03/04 (Wilson and Hathaway 2009a)

Presentations -  Updated 2009/02/10 (Stellar Activity Cycles)

Presentations -  Updated 2009/02/10 (Predicting the Sunspot Cycle)

Papers -  Updated 2008/11/14 (Wilson and Hathaway 2008f)

Papers -  Updated 2008/11/14 (Wilson and Hathaway 2008e)

Papers -  Updated 2008/11/14 (Wilson and Hathaway 2008d)

Papers -  Updated 2008/11/10 (Hathaway, Williams, and Cuntz 2008)

Papers -  Updated 2008/10/03 (Wilson and Hathaway 2008c)

Papers -  Updated 2008/10/03 (Wilson 2008)

Papers -  Updated 2008/07/08 (Hathaway and Choudhary 2008)

Papers -  Updated 2008/07/08 (Gary, Davis, and West 2008)

Papers -  Updated 2008/07/08 (Wilson and Hathaway 2008b)

Recent Solar Physics News Stories

2009/06/17 Mystery of the Missing Sunspots, Solved?
2009/06/03 Fake Astronaut Gets Hit by Artificial Solar Flare
2009/05/29 New Solar Cycle Prediction
2009/04/14 The Surprising Shape of Solar Storms
2009/04/01 Deep Solar Minimum
2009/01/23 NASA Sees the 'Dark Side' of the Sun
2009/01/21 Severe Space Weather
2008/12/15 Solar Flare Surprise
2008/11/07 Solar Cycle Update: The Sun Shows Signs of Life
2008/10/02 How Round is the Sun?
2008/09/30 Spotless Sun: Blankest Year of the Space Age
2008/09/23 Solar Wind Loses Power, Hits 50-year Low
2008/09/17 Polar Crown Prominences
2008/09/05 NASA to Explore "Secret Layer" of the Sun
2008/08/19 Living with a Star
2008/07/29 Partial Eclipse, Total Fun
2008/07/11 What's Wrong with the Sun? (Nothing)
2008/06/10 NASA Plans to Visit the Sun