Our understanding of the Sun and its impact on the Earth could soon become clearer thanks to a unique science project involving staff and students from Northumbria University.

Astrophysics student Richard Cook and members of Northumbria's Solar Physics Research Group were invited by a team from the University of Sheffield to lead the scientific part of the experiment, which aims to gather data about the Sun’s atmosphere using a solar telescope attached to high altitude balloon.

The project has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) for its prestigious REXUS/BEXUS competition, in which students’ experiments are launched into space on board research rockets and balloons.

Students from the University of Sheffield recently visited Northumbria to test some of the equipment using Northumbria's vacuum chamber, to mimic the conditions found in space.

Dr. Sergiy Shelyag, Senior Lecturer at Northumbria University, explain more...

SunbYte student project set to shed light on the sun from Northumbria University on Vimeo.