Space

First maps of the sun’s outer boundary may help predict solar storms

Data from inside the sun’s corona helped create a sharper picture than before

a yellow star surrounded by jagged clouds of grey material

The outer edge of the sun’s corona (illustrated) has a rough, spiky shape that expands and contracts like a pufferfish.

Melissa Weiss, CfA

By Lisa Grossman

The sun’s outer atmosphere resembles a pufferfish.

That’s what scientists have gleaned from the first verified maps of the shifting boundary between the sun and the rest of the solar system.