Webb captures Neptune's auroras for first time
Neptune lies in the frigid, dark, vast frontier of the outer edges of our solar system, about 3 billion miles away from the sun.
Astronomy
Mar 26, 2025
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Page 5: Research news on aurora
Aurora is a geomagnetic and atmospheric optical phenomenon arising from the interaction of charged particles, primarily electrons and protons from the solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, with atoms and molecules in a planet’s upper atmosphere. Guided by magnetic field lines into high-latitude auroral ovals, these particles precipitate and undergo collisional excitation and ionization of atmospheric species such as oxygen and nitrogen. Subsequent radiative de-excitation produces characteristic emissions, notably green and red lines of atomic oxygen and molecular nitrogen bands, forming dynamic structures including arcs, curtains, and patches whose morphology and intensity are modulated by magnetospheric dynamics and space weather conditions.
NASA to launch three rockets from Alaska in single Aurora experiment
Three NASA-funded rockets are set to launch from Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska, in an experiment that seeks to reveal how auroral substorms affect the behavior and composition of Earth's far upper atmosphere.
Space Exploration
Mar 22, 2025
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NASA's EZIE is launching to study magnetic fingerprints of Earth's aurora
High above Earth's poles, intense electrical currents called electrojets flow through the upper atmosphere when auroras glow in the sky. These auroral electrojets push about a million amps of electrical charge around the ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 25, 2025
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Colliding plasma ejections from the sun generate huge geomagnetic storms
The sun periodically ejects huge bubbles of plasma from its surface that contain an intense magnetic field. These events are called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. When two of these ejections collide, they can generate powerful ...
Astronomy
Feb 24, 2025
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NASA's PUNCH mission to revolutionize our view of solar wind
The Earth is immersed in material streaming from the sun. This stream, called the solar wind, is washing over our planet, causing breathtaking auroras, impacting satellites and astronauts in space, and even affecting ground-based ...
Astronomy
Feb 24, 2025
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NASA CubeSat finds new radiation belts after May 2024 solar storm
The largest solar storm in two decades hit Earth in May 2024. For several days, wave after wave of high-energy charged particles from the sun rocked the planet. Brilliant auroras engulfed the skies, and some GPS communications ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 6, 2025
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Lightning strikes link weather on Earth and weather in space
There are trillions of charged particles—protons and electrons, the basic building blocks of matter—whizzing around above your head at any given time. These high-energy particles, which can travel at close to the speed of ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 5, 2025
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NASA rockets to fly through flickering, vanishing auroras
Two NASA rocket missions are taking to the Alaskan skies in hopes of discovering why some auroras flicker, others pulsate, and still others are riddled with holes. Understanding these peculiar features is part of NASA's goal ...
Space Exploration
Jan 21, 2025
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'What is that?' Scientists explain white patch that appears near northern lights
A whitish, gray patch that sometimes appears in the night sky alongside the northern lights has been explained for the first time by researchers at the University of Calgary.
Astronomy
Jan 10, 2025
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AI categorizes 700 million aurora images for better geomagnetic storm forecasting
The aurora borealis, or northern lights, is known for a stunning spectacle of light in the night sky, but this near-Earth manifestation, which is caused by explosive activity on the sun and carried by the solar wind, can ...
Planetary Sciences
Jan 9, 2025
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