Astronomers use the observatory to study the positions and movements of the Earth, sun,moon and other objects in space.

VOA: special.2009.09.21

The American space agency's Dawn spacecraft began circling Vesta, a member of the asteroid belt that orbits the sun.

VOA: special.2011.07.27

Shuttle Discovery left behind a pink and gold plume of smoke as it took off Sunday evening, with the sun setting on the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

VOA: standard.2009.03.15

Radiation is all around us, from the sun and space and other natural sources.

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In 2008 and 2009, the sun set Space Age records for low sunspot counts, weak solar wind, and low solar irradiance.

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Astronauts would also be bombarded with solar energetic particles, which get accelerated close to the sun as a result of solar flares and coronal mass ejections that shoot portions of the sun into space.

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