Next to its solar twins, the sun stands out

Its subtly different chemistry from its ‘solar twins’ may be due to having rocky planets

light wavelengths

THE RAINBOW CONNECTION  Comparing observations of the sun in many wavelengths of light (shown here in a set of observations from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory) with those of sunlike stars shows that our home star is surprisingly unique.

GSFC Visualization Studio/SDO/NASA

BOSTON — Many sunlike stars are eerie clones, but ours is an individual.