As technology becomes increasingly vital in our day-to-day lives, we are more susceptible to "space weather". What begins with dark spots on the Sun's surface, and magnetic field disruptions in the Sun's atmosphere, can result ...
Space Exploration
Oct 3, 2016
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During the Antarctic summer of 2013-2014, a team of researchers released a series of translucent scientific balloons, one by one. The miniature membranous balloons - part of the Balloon Array for Radiation-belt Relativistic ...
Space Exploration
May 19, 2016
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New findings based on a year's worth of observations from NASA's Van Allen Probes have revealed that the ring current - an electrical current carried by energetic ions that encircles our planet - behaves in a much different ...
Space Exploration
May 19, 2016
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A long coronal hole can be seen right down the middle of the sun in this video captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on March 23-25, 2016. Coronal holes are areas on the sun where the solar magnetic field extends ...
Space Exploration
Apr 11, 2016
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The sun's violent activity and many unexpected and unpredictable events taking place on its surface suggest that we should prepare for the worst. Huge explosions of magnetic field and plasma from the sun's corona, known as ...
Space Exploration
Mar 14, 2016
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Just weeks before the historic encounter of comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) with Mars in October 2014, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft entered orbit around the Red Planet. To protect sensitive ...
Space Exploration
Mar 10, 2016
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Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are massive expulsions of magnetic flux into space from the solar corona, the ionized atmosphere surrounding the sun. Magnetic storms arising from CMEs pose radiation hazards that can damage ...
Space Exploration
Mar 1, 2016
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Magnetic storms can interfere with the operation of electric power grids and damage grid infrastructure. They can also disrupt directional drilling for oil and gas, radio communications, communication satellites and GPS systems.
Earth Sciences
Jan 8, 2016
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Magnetic reconnection, which occurs when magnetic lines of force break apart and reconnect with a violent burst of energy, gives rise to many beautiful and powerful phenomena in the natural world. These include solar flares, ...
Plasma Physics
Nov 10, 2015
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Aviation officials say a solar storm knocked out the air traffic control systems in Sweden on Wednesday, prompting them to close the country's airspace for more than an hour.
Space Exploration
Nov 4, 2015
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