Sun leaves Earth wide open to cosmic rays - space - 27 June 2009 - New Scientist

Sun leaves Earth wide open to cosmic rays - space - 27 June 2009 - New Scientist



"The sun protects us from cosmic rays and dust from beyond the solar system by enveloping us in the heliosphere - a bubble of solar wind that extends past Pluto. These cosmic rays would damage the ozone layer, and interstellar dust could dim sunlight and trigger an ice age. However, when the solar system passes through very dense gas and dust clouds, the heliosphere can shrink until its edge is inside Earth's orbit."

Sun's baby twin spotted in 'Pillars of Creation'

"Likened to a stellar womb, the iconic soaring space towers known as the Pillars of Creation have revealed an embryo of an infant star that could develop into a twin of our Sun.



Astronomers imaged the baby star in what they consider the earliest stages of development ever detected for this type of object.

Hiding out on a nodule that juts out from the left pillar, “E42” is known as an evaporating gas globule, also referred to as an EGG. An EGG is a dense pocket of interstellar gas that forms an “egg” from which a star emerges. This particular EGG has the same mass as the sun and appears to be maturing in a violent environment matching the one thought to have produced Earth’s life-giving star."