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Heat Index Chart

Be sure to check this heat index chart before you head out in the heat of summer, because when the temperature is high and accompanied by high humidity, it can feel a lot warmer than the thermometer indicates.

The combination of high temperature and high humidity reduces...

Greatest Sky Events of the Past 200 Years

What are some of Earth's greatest sky events? Here's the Almanac's take on the most spectacular, memorable, and even scary sky phenomena visible to the naked eye since 1792.

Sunspot Activity for 2009

Sunspot activity is at a low point in 2009.

Aurora: Nature's Light Show

The aurora borealis or northern lights is one of nature's most dazzling events. Shimmering curtains of color waft in the night air.

Total Eclipses of the Sun

Mark these solar eclipse dates on your calendar so you don't miss any of this century's spectacles!

A total eclipse of the Sun occurs when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun, blocking out its light. Although the entire eclipse can last a couple of hours, its...

What are Sunspots?

The Old Farmer's Almanac uses sunspot activity to help in making its weather predictions. What exactly are sunspots?

The Sun: Burning Fact #7

The Sun is Hotter Than Hot!

The Sun's temperature varies over time and throughout its eight layers:

The Sun: Burning Fact #6!

The Sun Has a Lot of Pull!

The Sun: Burning Fact #5!

The Sun Moves Ver-r-r-y Slowly

The Sun is the center of our solar system, but it doesn't stay in one place. It orbits around the center of our Milky Way galaxy, which is about 28,000 light–years away. (A light-year is about 5.88 trillion miles.) It takes the Sun about 226 million...

The Sun: Burning Fact #4

The Sun Is a Huge Ball of Energy

The Sun is about 865,000 miles in diameter. That's as wide as 109 Earths placed side by side! About 1 million Earths would fit inside the Sun.

It's hard to imagine the enormous amount of energy the Sun produces. Because its core...