When the Solar Wind Slams Into Earth’s Magnetosphere, a Surprising Stillness Ensues
Energy from the solar wind interacting with the magnetospheric ‘bubble’ around Earth creates waves of energy that appear to stand still. This new finding, from…
Space Weather
Calm Above the Storm: Incredible Green Smoky Swirls of Plasma Seen From Space Station
Auroras make for great Halloween décor over Earth, though ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet snapped these green smoky swirls of plasma from the International Space Station…
Violent Coronal Mass Ejection Crashes Into Earth’s Magnetosphere, Lighting Up the Sky
Credit: All-sky camera, Kiruna Atmospheric and Geophysical Observatory (KAGO) within the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF). Data provided as part of ESA’s Space Weather…
The Sun and Stars Affect Our Everyday Clouds and, Ultimately, Earth’s Energy Budget
Large Effect of Solar Activity on Earth’s Energy Budget This is the result of a new study by researchers from DTU Space at the Technical…
Auroras Announce the Solar Cycle: More Frequent Opportunities To See the Northern and Southern Lights
The 25th cycle is underway, and it brings more frequent opportunities to see the northern lights and southern lights. Solar Cycle 25 is underway, and…
Geomagnetic Storm: Solar Eruption Arrives at Earth
A mass of solar material that erupted from the Sun on October 9, 2021, reached Earth on October 12. The Earth-directed coronal mass ejection, or…
Van Allen Radiation Belts: 21 Fun Facts
Radiation Belts — Fun Facts Two radiation belts filled with electrons and charged particles surround Earth. The inner one is fairly stable, but the outer…
Surprising Standing Waves at Edge of Earth’s Magnetic Bubble Found in NASA Data
Earth sails the solar system in a ship of its own making: the magnetosphere, the magnetic field that envelops and protects our planet. The celestial…
Auroraspectacular: Timelapse Video Made by Astronaut on International Space Station
Timelapse video made during ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Alpha”. The camera is setup to take pictures at regular…
Lightning Impacts Edge of Space in Ways Not Previously Observed
Solar flares jetting out from the sun and thunderstorms generated on Earth impact the planet’s ionosphere in different ways, which have implications for the ability…
NASA GOLD’s Bird’s-Eye Reveals Mysterious Dynamics in Earth’s Interface to Space
New research using data from NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, mission, has revealed unexpected behavior in the swaths of charged…
Under the Northern Lights: Mesospheric Ozone Layer Depletion Phenomenon
The same phenomenon that causes aurorae — the magical curtains of green light often visible from the polar regions of the Earth — causes mesospheric…
Particle Radiation: Will It Be Safe for Humans To Fly to Mars?
Mission would be viable if it doesn’t exceed four years, international research team concludes. Sending human travelers to Mars would require scientists and engineers to…
Supercomputer Helps Protect Earth From Space Storms
University of Michigan researchers use Frontera supercomputer to improve space weather forecasting system, avoid worst effects of extreme events. “There are only two natural disasters…
NASA’s Juno spacecraft Detects Jupiter’s Highest-Energy Ions
Trapped ions discovered at midlatitudes can have energies exceeding 100 megaelectron volts per nucleon. Their detection adds to our understanding of the powerful radiation environment…
Holes in the Solar Atmosphere: Artificial Intelligence Spots Coronal Holes to Automate Space Weather Predictions
Scientists from the University of Graz (Austria), Skoltech and their colleagues from the US and Germany have developed a new neural network that can reliably…
NASA’s ACE Mission: Total Solar Eclipses Shine a Light on the Solar Wind
From traversing sand dunes in the Sahara Desert to keeping watch for polar bears in the Arctic, a group of solar scientists known as the…
Freak Coincidence: The Curious Incident of Swarm and Sprites in the Night-Time
We are all familiar with the bolts of lightning that accompany heavy storms. While these flashes originate in storm clouds and strike downwards, a much…